Long-term Care

Long-term care and grandmother-care together create late-life selection for somatic survival without equivalently maintaining reproduction. Long-term care can remain relevant after direct reproduction because its efficacy accumulates across surviving adult offspring. Reproduction-enhancing long-term care doubled an adult offspring's birth rate up to a maximum of one when its mother was present. Survival-enhancing long-term care reduced adult offspring death rates tenfold when the mother was present. The study considered long-term care of adult offspring because empirical findings suggest maternal presence can improve adult offspring survival or fertility.