The answer is to be found in Lapland, it seems.
Or was that Lapdanceland?
Now Dr Samuli Helle, University of Turku, has found the answer with the help of a study of the nomadic Sami, the “reindeer people” of Finland.
Finnish parish records from the 17th to 19th century on three Sami populations, who depended on reindeer herding, fishing and hunting for their livelihood, make it possible for researchers to disentangle the effects of medical progress on the number and life span of Sami men who married only once.
What they found was that the men maximized their “evolutionary fitness” - ability to pass on their genes to future generations - by marrying women who were 14.6 years younger, and vice versa.
“Those men had the highest number of offspring surviving to adulthood,” said Dr Helle, who did his study with Drs Virpi Lummaa of the University of Sheffield and Jukka Jokela of the ETH in Zurich.
“Young Sami women were the most fertile and had the highest reproductive value, whereas older Sami men had acquired enough skills needed for successful hunting, fishing and reindeer herding and, most importantly, wealth to be good providers for the progeny and thus desirable mates,” they conclude.
Yeah, that’s the answer. [/sarcasm]
