Journal
ECOLOGY LETTERS
Volume 10, Issue 10, Pages 867-872Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01085.x
Keywords
aging; antagonistic pleiotropy; disposable soma; senescence; survival; trade-off; zoo populations
Categories
Funding
- NIA NIH HHS [R01 AG20263-01] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
We examined the relationship between number of offspring produced to a certain age and subsequent longevity in captive zoo populations of 18 species of mammal and 12 species of bird. The age cut-offs in each analysis were set to include 50%, 75% and 90% of the offspring produced in each of the population samples. Only one of 68 regressions was significant, and its slope was positive. In addition, we examined the relationship between age at first reproduction up to a certain age and longevity after that age, generally 5 years (3-8), among 17 species of mammal and 12 species of bird. Only one of these regressions had a significantly positive slope, indicating that early reproduction rarely reduces lifespan. Overall, we found no evidence that producing offspring in a zoo environment influences the age at death. Thus, although trade-offs might apply in natural populations under resource limitation, neither pregnancy, growth of the foetus and lactation in mammals, nor egg production in birds, reduces lifespan in the absence of such stress. If genetically based or other intrinsic antagonistic pleiotropy underlies the evolution of senescence, it was not evident in our analyses.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available