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garry4321 t1_iuyily0 wrote

For almost any mammal the rule is number of nipples/2 = average amount of kin/birth, with # of total nipples being the average maximum per birth minus rare outliers. Therefore just like humans, the average birth is 1 child with max generally being 2 (triplets extremely uncommon)

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AlyssaJMcCarthy t1_iuynmy2 wrote

Im pretty sure the question is not asking how many kids per pregnancy, but rather total kids over a lifetime.

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Warpedme t1_iuyviwy wrote

That's totally not what I got it of the post but I'm also much more interested in the answer.

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kidnoki t1_iuyxhk5 wrote

Yeah you'd have to consider optimal fertility cycles and mating/seasonal habits and tendencies. I remember looking at a birth rate chart for the months and we had a very cyclic pattern going, where there would be heavy births after colder months and an obvious 9 month barrier, that would decrease fertility, but obviously this was just the most common, we have pretty crazy reproductive options compared to some of the larger more social and intelligent mammals. Probably because we domesticated, which throws in a whole new set of pressures on birth cycles.

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MisterBilau t1_iuywdnd wrote

Lol, come on, that's obviously not the question. Of course they mostly had one child per pregnancy, with the occasional twins / triplets. Why would anyone think otherwise, or even ask.

The question is how many children the average homo erectus would have, not how many children per pregnancy. I would say it must have been higher than current numbers (so, higher than 2 per couple), probably quite a bit higher, to account for extreme child mortality - otherwise populations would dwindle fast.

I'd be very surprised if it was less than 4 per couple or something.

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M0nsterjojo t1_iuym03e wrote

Now I want to state the exceptions to this (NOT being hostile, just for anyone that's curious) would be something like a large ruminant stomach grazer (Which has 1 offspring per 4 nipples) and pigs/dogs which can have litters upwards of < 1 nipper per child.

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