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Pierce AK, Yanco SW, Wunder MB. Seasonal migration alters energetic trade-off optimization and shapes life history. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14392. [PMID: 38400796 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14392] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Revised: 01/02/2024] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024]
Abstract
Trade-offs between current and future reproduction manifest as a set of co-varying life history and metabolic traits, collectively referred to as 'pace of life' (POL). Seasonal migration modulates environmental dynamics and putatively affects POL, however, the mechanisms by which migratory behaviour shapes POL remain unclear. We explored how migratory behaviour interacts with environmental and metabolic dynamics to shape POL. Using an individual-based model of movement and metabolism, we compared fitness-optimized trade-offs among migration strategies. We found annual experienced seasonality modulated by migratory movements and distance between end-points primarily drove POL differentiation through developmental and migration phenology trade-offs. Similarly, our analysis of empirically estimated metabolic data from 265 bird species suggested seasonal niche tracking and migration distance interact to drive POL. We show multiple viable life-history strategies are conducive to a migratory lifestyle. Overall, our findings suggest metabolism mediates complex interactions between behaviour, environment and life history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison K Pierce
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colorado, USA
| | - Scott W Yanco
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colorado, USA
- Center for Biodiversity and Global Change, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Michael B Wunder
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colorado, USA
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2
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Cramer DW. Incessant ovulation: a review of its importance in predicting cancer risk. Front Oncol 2023; 13:1240309. [PMID: 37869082 PMCID: PMC10588628 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1240309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 08/16/2023] [Indexed: 10/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Estrous cycles are recurring changes in therian mammals induced by estrogen, progesterone, and other hormones culminating in endometrial proliferation, ovulation, and implantation if fertilization occurred. In women, the estrous cycle is the menstrual cycle; but, unlike most mammals, the end of an infertile cycle is marked by endometrial sloughing and the start of another without an anestrous phase. Women stop cycling at menopause, while in most mammals, cycles continue until death. Epidemiologic studies identified menarche, menopause, births, lactation, and oral contraceptive (OC) use as key risk factors for ovarian, breast, and endometrial cancers. A composite variable was created to estimate the number of cycles not interrupted by events that stop ovulation. Captured by the phrase "incessant ovulation", repetitive cycles were first postulated to affect ovarian cancer risk and later extended to breast and endometrial cancers. These associations could be explained by cumulative effects of repetitive tissue changes within reproductive organs, immune consequences of repetitive ovulation through the glycoprotein mucin 1, and residual effects of past ovulations that enhance ovarian production of testosterone. The latter two pathways could affect the risk for cancers in other organs not considered "reproductive".
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel W. Cramer
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
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3
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Glazier DS. The Relevance of Time in Biological Scaling. BIOLOGY 2023; 12:1084. [PMID: 37626969 PMCID: PMC10452035 DOI: 10.3390/biology12081084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Revised: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023]
Abstract
Various phenotypic traits relate to the size of a living system in regular but often disproportionate (allometric) ways. These "biological scaling" relationships have been studied by biologists for over a century, but their causes remain hotly debated. Here, I focus on the patterns and possible causes of the body-mass scaling of the rates/durations of various biological processes and life-history events, i.e., the "pace of life". Many biologists have regarded the rate of metabolism or energy use as the master driver of the "pace of life" and its scaling with body size. Although this "energy perspective" has provided valuable insight, here I argue that a "time perspective" may be equally or even more important. I evaluate various major ways that time may be relevant in biological scaling, including as (1) an independent "fourth dimension" in biological dimensional analyses, (2) a universal "biological clock" that synchronizes various biological rates/durations, (3) a scaling method that uses various biological time periods (allochrony) as scaling metrics, rather than various measures of physical size (allometry), as traditionally performed, (4) an ultimate body-size-related constraint on the rates/timing of biological processes/events that is set by the inevitability of death, and (5) a geological "deep time" approach for viewing the evolution of biological scaling patterns. Although previously proposed universal four-dimensional space-time and "biological clock" views of biological scaling are problematic, novel approaches using allochronic analyses and time perspectives based on size-related rates of individual mortality and species origination/extinction may provide new valuable insights.
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Rotella JJ. Patterns, sources, and consequences of variation in age-specific vital rates: Insights from a long-term study of Weddell seals. J Anim Ecol 2023; 92:552-567. [PMID: 36495476 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Variations in the reproductive and survival abilities of individuals within a population are ubiquitous in nature, key to individual fitness, and affect population dynamics, which leads to strong interest in understanding causes and consequences of vital-rate variation. For long-lived species, long-term studies of large samples of known-age individuals are ideal for evaluating vital-rate variation. A population of Weddell seals in Erebus Bay, Antarctica, has been studied each Austral spring since the 1960s. Since 1982, all newborns have been tagged each year and multiple capture-mark-recapture (CMR) surveys have been conducted annually. Over the past 20 years, a series of analyses have built on results of earlier research by taking advantage of steady improvements in the project's long-term CMR data and available analytical methods. Here, I summarize progress made on four major topics related to variation in age-specific vital rates for females: early-life survival and age at first reproduction, costs of reproduction, demographic buffering, and demographic senescence. Multistate modelling found that age at first reproduction varies widely (4-14 years of age) and identified contrasting influences of maternal age on survival and recruitment rates of offspring. Subsequent analyses of data for females after recruitment revealed costs of reproduction to both survival and future reproduction and provided strong evidence of demographic buffering. Recent results indicated that important levels of among-individual variation exist in vital rates and revealed contrasting patterns for senescence in reproduction and survival. Sources of variation in vital rates include age, reproductive state, year, and individual. The combination of luck and individual quality results in strong variation in individual fitness outcomes: ~80% of females born in the population produce no offspring, and the remaining 20% vary strongly in lifetime reproductive output (range: 1-23 pups). Further research is needed to identify the specific environmental conditions that lead to annual variation in vital rates and to better understand the origins of individual heterogeneity. Work is also needed to better quantify the relative roles of luck, maternal effects, and environmental conditions on variation in vital rates and to learn the importance of such variation to demographic performance of offspring and on overall population dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jay J Rotella
- Ecology Department, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA
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5
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Gremer JR. Looking to the past to understand the future: linking evolutionary modes of response with functional and life history traits in variable environments. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2023; 237:751-757. [PMID: 36349401 DOI: 10.1111/nph.18605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
In a variable world, plants must have strategies to deal with environmental conditions as they change. Understanding these strategies is critical since climate change not only affects mean conditions but also affects variability and predictability of those conditions. Doing so requires identifying how functional and life history traits interact throughout the life cycle to drive responses, as well as exploring how past variability will shape future responses. Here, I highlight relevant life history theory for predicting strategies in relation to the nature of environmental variability, relate theory to empirical studies integrating functional and life history traits to understand responses, and identify key areas for future research that will facilitate the application of this understanding toward predicting responses to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer R Gremer
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
- Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
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6
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Vasilieva NA. Pace-of-Life Syndrome (POLS): Evolution of the Concept. BIOL BULL+ 2022. [DOI: 10.1134/s1062359022070238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
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7
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Dammann P, Šaffa G, Šumbera R. Longevity of a solitary mole-rat species and its implications for the assumed link between sociality and longevity in African mole-rats (Bathyergidae). Biol Lett 2022; 18:20220243. [PMID: 36416033 PMCID: PMC9682431 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Sociality and cooperative breeding are associated with enhanced longevity in insects and birds, but whether this is also true for mammals is still subject to debate. African mole-rats (Bathyergidae) have recently been claimed to be the only mammalian family in which such an association may exist because cooperatively breeding bathyergids seem to be substantially longer lived than solitary bathyergids. However, although ample longevity data are available for several social bathyergids, almost nothing is known about mortality distribution and lifespan in solitary bathyergids. Here we present robust long-term data on the longevity of a solitary African mole-rat, the silvery mole-rat Heliophobius argenteocinereus. Our findings show that this species is much longer-lived than previously believed. Nonetheless, our comparative analysis suggests that sociality has indeed a positive effect on longevity in this family. We argue that the extreme longevity seen particularly in social bathyergids is probably caused by a combination of subterranean lifestyle and cooperative breeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- P. Dammann
- Department of General Zoology, Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
- Central Animal Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
| | - G. Šaffa
- Faculty of Science, University of Southern Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - R. Šumbera
- Faculty of Science, University of Southern Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
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8
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González-Tokman D. Effects of mating age and mate age on lifespan and reproduction in a horned beetle. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-022-03206-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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9
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Nie H, Liu J, Chen B. Life-history traits and fitness of plateau pika ( Ochotona curzoniae) in alpine meadow ecosystem. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8548. [PMID: 35127047 PMCID: PMC8796910 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2021] [Revised: 12/12/2021] [Accepted: 12/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) is an endemic mammal living in the alpine meadow ecosystem in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. We studied life history of plateau pika by mark-recapturing method. The research results showed that fitness of plateau pika to its habitat was lower than those of many other mammal species; plateau pika adopted quick growth strategy; the life-history features of plateau pika were accorded with Charnov (Evolutionary Ecology Research, 2002, 4, 749)'s formula about life-history classification, that is, E/α ≈ 1.35, C·E ≈ 1.7, I/m ≈ 0.3, in which E stands for average adult life span; α stands for age at first reproduction; C is reproductive effort; I is the size of an offspring at independence from the parent; m is average adult body mass. There does not exist dimorphism in plateau pikas. The configurations of females and males are similar; the average body mass of males is a little heavier than that of females, but the difference is not significant (F = 1.0854, df = 154, p > .3058). The juveniles exhibit a J-form growth curve before 30-day age and grow slower between 30 and 65-day age and reach body mass equilibrium at about 65 days old. So, 65 days is the maturity age of plateau pika. There are 3 mortality peaks in plateau pika population. The first time is in neonate period, when only one half of juveniles can pass through this period, which implies that juvenile period is influenced strongly by natural selection; the second time is in fecundity peak period, which reflects the cost of reproduction; the third time is in the old age of plateau pika, a significant loss occurs during this period, which is the result of natural selection. The average longevity of females is longer than that of males. A female reaches the maximum life span recorded, that is, 931 days. The average longevity of all individuals is 16.33 months ≈ 490 days. The survival rate of females is higher than that of males, which reflects the cost of reproduction and society role of males. It is the outcome of natural selection. The sex ratio of neonates is 1:1; however, the sex ratio of adults is female: male = 1.31:1, which is caused by higher mortality of males over females in life history. Plateau pikas reproduced two times every year. The average gestation period of females is 18-20 days. The average litter size is 4.57 individual. The average body mass of neonates is 9.28 g. The average litter size of adult female plateau pika does not variate with age. Breeding season is between April and June. The reproductive value and fertility of 15-18 months age females are highest. The reproductive value and fertility increased with age before reproductive value and fertility peak age; however, the reproductive value and fertility decreased with age after peak age. The fitness of plateau pika (r = .1125) was lower than that of American pikas (O. princeps) (r = 2.172). The survival rate was the main factor influencing fitness. The dynamic trend of plateau pika population was coincident with r, that is, the plateau pika population was stable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haiyan Nie
- College of Life Science and TechnologyCentral South University of Forestry and TechnologyChangshaChina
| | - Jike Liu
- College of Life SciencesZhejiang UniversityHang ZhouChina
| | - Baoyang Chen
- College of Life Science and TechnologyCentral South University of Forestry and TechnologyChangshaChina
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10
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Hawkes K. Cognitive consequences of our grandmothering life history: cultural learning begins in infancy. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190501. [PMID: 32475323 PMCID: PMC7293154 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Postmenopausal longevity distinguishes humans from our closest living evolutionary cousins, the great apes, and may have evolved in our lineage when the economic productivity of grandmothers allowed mothers to wean earlier and overlap dependents. Since increased longevity retards development and expands brain size across the mammals, this hypothesis links our slower developing, bigger brains to ancestral grandmothering. If foraging interdependence favoured postmenopausal longevity because grandmothers' subsidies reduced weaning ages, then ancestral infants lost full maternal engagement while their slower developing brains were notably immature. With survival dependent on social relationships, sensitivity to reputations is wired very early in neural ontogeny, beginning our lifelong preoccupation with shared intentionality. This article is part of the theme issue 'Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristen Hawkes
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
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11
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Viau P, Rodini DC, Sobral G, Martins GS, Morato RG, de Oliveira CA. Puberty and oestral cycle length in captive female jaguars Panthera onca. CONSERVATION PHYSIOLOGY 2020; 8:coaa052. [PMID: 32577289 PMCID: PMC7296220 DOI: 10.1093/conphys/coaa052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2019] [Revised: 02/26/2020] [Accepted: 05/13/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Habitat loss and fragmentation have been leading jaguars to constant conflicts with humans, and as a result, jaguar populations have been declining over the last decades. Captive breeding is often a tool for species conservation, and it is not different for jaguars. However, success is far from optimal due to the lack of basic knowledge about species' reproductive biology. In the present study, we assessed gonadal hormonal profiles of natural oestral cycles and puberty and compared our data to those of other wild felids. We collected faecal samples from two to seven times per week for 18 months from two adults and three pre-pubertal females. We defined baseline levels for progestins and oestrogens in order to estimate oestrous cycle length and age at puberty. We compared our data with 16 other species through generalized linear model, using weight and genus as two explanatory variables. Cycle length was 38.28 ± 2.52 days, ranging from 25 to 44 days, while sexual maturity was attained within 22 months. Due to our analysis of both hormonal and behavioural data, there is a variation between this research from other studies that employed only behavioural observations. Such difference may be caused by the absence of behavioural oestrous at the peri-pubertal period. When compared to wild felids of similar size, puberty and oestral cycle durations of the jaguar females fell within the same range. Our modelling showed that age at maturity was influenced mostly by size and only Leopardus partially explained the observed variation. Conversely, oestral cycle length did not differ among genera or size categories. Our study adds to the body literature in the reproductive endocrinology of wild felids, and because female gametes are more challenging to collect and preserve, a strong understanding on the female reproductive physiology is essential to assisted reproduction and wild population viability assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Priscila Viau
- Departamento de Reprodução Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Dr. Orlando Marques de Paiva, 87 Cidade Universitária Armando de Salles Oliveira, Butantã, 05508270, São Paulo (SP), Brazil
| | - Débora Cattaruzzi Rodini
- Departamento de Reprodução Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Dr. Orlando Marques de Paiva, 87 Cidade Universitária Armando de Salles Oliveira, Butantã, 05508270, São Paulo (SP), Brazil
| | - Gisela Sobral
- Departamento de Reprodução Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Dr. Orlando Marques de Paiva, 87 Cidade Universitária Armando de Salles Oliveira, Butantã, 05508270, São Paulo (SP), Brazil
| | - Gabriela Siqueira Martins
- Departamento de Reprodução Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Dr. Orlando Marques de Paiva, 87 Cidade Universitária Armando de Salles Oliveira, Butantã, 05508270, São Paulo (SP), Brazil
| | - Ronaldo Gonçalves Morato
- Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação de Mamíferos Carnívoros, Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade, Estrada Municipal Hisaichi Takebayashi, 8600, Bairro da Usina, Atibaia, 12952011 São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Claudio Alvarenga de Oliveira
- Departamento de Reprodução Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Dr. Orlando Marques de Paiva, 87 Cidade Universitária Armando de Salles Oliveira, Butantã, 05508270, São Paulo (SP), Brazil
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12
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Cayuela H, Olgun K, Angelini C, Üzüm N, Peyronel O, Miaud C, Avcı A, Lemaitre JF, Schmidt BR. Slow life-history strategies are associated with negligible actuarial senescence in western Palaearctic salamanders. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20191498. [PMID: 31455192 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Actuarial senescence has been viewed for a long time as an inevitable and uniform process. However, the work on senescence has mainly focused on endotherms with deterministic growth and low regeneration capacity during the adult stage, leading to a strong taxonomic bias in the study of ageing. Recent studies have highlighted that senescence could indeed display highly variable trajectories that correlate with species life-history traits. Slow life histories and indeterminate growth seem to be associated with weak and late senescence. Furthermore, high regenerative abilities could lead to negligible senescence in ectotherms. However, demographic data for species that would allow testing of these hypotheses are scarce. Here, we investigated senescence patterns in 'true salamanders' from the western Palaearctic. Our results showed that salamanders have slow life histories and that they experience negligible senescence. This pattern was consistent at both intra- and interspecific levels, suggesting that the absence of senescence may be a phylogenetically conserved trait. The regenerative capacities of salamanders, in combination with other physiological and developmental features such as an indeterminate growth and a low metabolic rate, probably explain why these small ectotherms have lifespans similar to that of large endotherms and, in contrast with most amniotes, undergo negligible senescence. Our study seriously challenges the idea that senescence is a ubiquitous phenomenon in the tree of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Cayuela
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, Quebec, Canada G1V 0A6
| | - Kurtuluş Olgun
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Adnan Menderes University, Aydin, Turkey
| | - Claudio Angelini
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, Quebec, Canada G1V 0A6
| | - Nazan Üzüm
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Adnan Menderes University, Aydin, Turkey
| | - Olivier Peyronel
- Syndicat de gestion des gorges de l'Ardèche, 07700 Saint-Remèze, France
| | - Claude Miaud
- PSL Research University, CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier, EPHE, Biogéographie et Ecologie des vertébrés, Montpellier, France
| | - Aziz Avcı
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Adnan Menderes University, Aydin, Turkey
| | - Jean-François Lemaitre
- CNRS, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Évolutive UMR 5558, Université Lyon 1, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Benedikt R Schmidt
- Institut für Evolutionsbiologie und Umweltwissenschaften, Universität Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland.,Info fauna karch, UniMail, Bâtiment G, Bellevaux 51, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
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13
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First breeding record of a 1-year-old female Eurasian lynx. EUR J WILDLIFE RES 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10344-019-1256-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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14
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Hawkes K, Finlay BL. Mammalian brain development and our grandmothering life history. Physiol Behav 2018; 193:55-68. [DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2017] [Revised: 01/15/2018] [Accepted: 01/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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15
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16
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Bulley A, Pepper GV. Cross-country relationships between life expectancy, intertemporal choice and age at first birth. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2017.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2023]
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17
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Wootton JT. THE EFFECTS OF BODY MASS, PHYLOGENY, HABITAT, AND TROPHIC LEVEL ON MAMMALIAN AGE AT FIRST REPRODUCTION. Evolution 2017; 41:732-749. [PMID: 28564349 DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1987.tb05849.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/1986] [Accepted: 12/24/1986] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
I examined age at first reproduction of 547 mammalian species to determine the influence of diet and habitat on the evolution of life-history traits. Body mass correlated positively with age at first reproduction, explaining 56% of the variance. Habitat and trophic groups deviated significantly from the allometric curve in a pattern generally consistent with predictions from r/K selection theory and its modifications. However, mammalian orders also deviated significantly from the allometric curve, and different habitat and diet groups contained different ratios of mammalian orders. When the effects of orders were removed, residual deviations did not differ among ecological groups. Adjusting for ecological differences did not eliminate the differences between orders. These results suggest that body mass (or some correlated factor) and phylogeny strongly constrain age at first reproduction. Ecological factors appear to have little effect on the evolution of age at first reproduction. Apparent differences in weight-specific ages at first reproduction within habitats and trophic groups may be the result of ecological selection of order composition in the present, rather than ecologically driven evolution of life history in the past.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Timothy Wootton
- Department of Zoology, NJ-15, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195
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18
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Abstract
AbstractSocioeconomic differences in behaviour are pervasive and well documented, but their causes are not yet well understood. Here, we make the case that a cluster of behaviours is associated with lower socioeconomic status (SES), which we call “the behavioural constellation of deprivation.” We propose that the relatively limited control associated with lower SES curtails the extent to which people can expect to realise deferred rewards, leading to more present-oriented behaviour in a range of domains. We illustrate this idea using the specific factor of extrinsic mortality risk, an important factor in evolutionary theoretical models. We emphasise the idea that the present-oriented behaviours of the constellation are a contextually appropriate response to structural and ecological factors rather than a pathology or a failure of willpower. We highlight some principles from evolutionary theoretical models that can deepen our understanding of how socioeconomic inequalities can become amplified and embedded. These principles are that (1) small initial disparities can lead to larger eventual inequalities, (2) feedback loops can embed early-life circumstances, (3) constraints can breed further constraints, and (4) feedback loops can operate over generations. We discuss some of the mechanisms by which SES may influence behaviour. We then review how the contextually appropriate response perspective that we have outlined fits with other findings about control and temporal discounting. Finally, we discuss the implications of this interpretation for research and policy.
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Bullinaria JA. Imitative and Direct Learning as Interacting Factors in Life History Evolution. ARTIFICIAL LIFE 2017; 23:374-405. [PMID: 28786726 DOI: 10.1162/artl_a_00237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The idea that lifetime learning can have a significant effect on life history evolution has recently been explored using a series of artificial life simulations. These involved populations of competing individuals evolving by natural selection to learn to perform well on simplified abstract tasks, with the learning consisting of identifying regularities in their environment. In reality, there is more to learning than that type of direct individual experience, because it often includes a substantial degree of social learning that involves various forms of imitation of what other individuals have learned before them. This article rectifies that omission by incorporating memes and imitative learning into revised versions of the previous approach. To do this reliably requires formulating and testing a general framework for meme-based simulations that will enable more complete investigations of learning as a factor in any life history evolution scenarios. It does that by simulating imitative information transfer in terms of memes being passed between individuals, and developing a process for merging that information with the (possibly inconsistent) information acquired by direct experience, leading to a consistent overall body of learning. The proposed framework is tested on a range of learning variations and a representative set of life history factors to confirm the robustness of the approach. The simulations presented illustrate the types of interactions and tradeoffs that can emerge, and indicate the kinds of species-specific models that could be developed with this approach in the future.
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Péron G, Gaillard JM, Barbraud C, Bonenfant C, Charmantier A, Choquet R, Coulson T, Grosbois V, Loison A, Marzolin G, Owen-Smith N, Pardo D, Plard F, Pradel R, Toïgo C, Gimenez O. Evidence of reduced individual heterogeneity in adult survival of long-lived species. Evolution 2016; 70:2909-2914. [PMID: 27813056 DOI: 10.1111/evo.13098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2016] [Revised: 10/12/2016] [Accepted: 10/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The canalization hypothesis postulates that the rate at which trait variation generates variation in the average individual fitness in a population determines how buffered traits are against environmental and genetic factors. The ranking of a species on the slow-fast continuum - the covariation among life-history traits describing species-specific life cycles along a gradient going from a long life, slow maturity, and low annual reproductive output, to a short life, fast maturity, and high annual reproductive output - strongly correlates with the relative fitness impact of a given amount of variation in adult survival. Under the canalization hypothesis, long-lived species are thus expected to display less individual heterogeneity in survival at the onset of adulthood, when reproductive values peak, than short-lived species. We tested this life-history prediction by analysing long-term time series of individual-based data in nine species of birds and mammals using capture-recapture models. We found that individual heterogeneity in survival was higher in species with short-generation time (< 3 years) than in species with long generation time (> 4 years). Our findings provide the first piece of empirical evidence for the canalization hypothesis at the individual level from the wild.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Péron
- Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Front Royal, Virginia, 22630.,UMR CNRS 5558-LBBE "Biométrie et Biologie Évolutive, " UCB Lyon 1-Bât. Grégor Mendel, 69622, Villeurbanne cedex, France
| | - Jean-Michel Gaillard
- UMR CNRS 5558-LBBE "Biométrie et Biologie Évolutive, " UCB Lyon 1-Bât. Grégor Mendel, 69622, Villeurbanne cedex, France
| | - Christophe Barbraud
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé UMR 7372 CNRS/Université La Rochelle, 79360, Villiers en Bois, France
| | - Christophe Bonenfant
- UMR CNRS 5558-LBBE "Biométrie et Biologie Évolutive, " UCB Lyon 1-Bât. Grégor Mendel, 69622, Villeurbanne cedex, France
| | - Anne Charmantier
- CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS-Université de Montpellier-Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier-EPHE, 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier cedex 5, France
| | - Rémi Choquet
- CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS-Université de Montpellier-Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier-EPHE, 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier cedex 5, France
| | - Tim Coulson
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, OX1 3PS, United Kingdom
| | - Vladimir Grosbois
- UR AGIRs-Animal et Gestion Intégrée des Risques, TA C 22/E Campus International Baillarguet, 34398 Montpellier cedex 5, France
| | - Anne Loison
- Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, Université de Savoie Mont-Blanc, 73376 Le Bourget du Lac, France.,Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, CNRS, 38000, Grenoble, France
| | - Gilbert Marzolin
- CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS-Université de Montpellier-Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier-EPHE, 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier cedex 5, France
| | - Norman Owen-Smith
- Centre for African Ecology, School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits 2050, South Africa
| | - Déborah Pardo
- CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS-Université de Montpellier-Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier-EPHE, 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier cedex 5, France
| | - Floriane Plard
- UMR CNRS 5558-LBBE "Biométrie et Biologie Évolutive, " UCB Lyon 1-Bât. Grégor Mendel, 69622, Villeurbanne cedex, France.,Swiss Ornithological Institute, CH-6204 Sempach, Switzerland
| | - Roger Pradel
- CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS-Université de Montpellier-Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier-EPHE, 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier cedex 5, France
| | - Carole Toïgo
- ONCFS-Unité Faune de Montagne, 5 allée de Bethléem, Z.I. de Mayencin, 38610, Gières, France
| | - Olivier Gimenez
- CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS-Université de Montpellier-Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier-EPHE, 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier cedex 5, France
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van Leeuwen AJ, Mace R. Life history factors, personality and the social clustering of sexual experience in adolescents. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2016; 3:160257. [PMID: 27853543 PMCID: PMC5098968 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2016] [Accepted: 08/30/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Adolescent sexual behaviour may show clustering in neighbourhoods, schools and friendship networks. This study aims to assess how experience with sexual intercourse clusters across the social world of adolescents and whether predictors implicated by life history theory or personality traits can account for its between-individual variation and social patterning. Using data on 2877 adolescents from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, we ran logistic multiple classification models to assess the clustering of sexual experience by approximately 17.5 years in schools, neighbourhoods and friendship networks. We examined how much clustering at particular levels could be accounted for by life history predictors and Big Five personality factors. Sexual experience exhibited substantial clustering in friendship networks, while clustering at the level of schools and neighbourhoods was minimal, suggesting a limited role for socio-ecological influences at those levels. While life history predictors did account for some variation in sexual experience, they did not explain clustering in friendship networks. Personality, especially extraversion, explained about a quarter of friends' similarity. After accounting for life history factors and personality, substantial unexplained similarity among friends remained, which may reflect a tendency to associate with similar individuals or the social transmission of behavioural norms.
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van de Vijver PL, van Bodegom D, Westendorp RGJ. Early and extraordinary peaks in physical performance come with a longevity cost. Aging (Albany NY) 2016; 8:1822-9. [PMID: 27540872 PMCID: PMC5032698 DOI: 10.18632/aging.101023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2016] [Accepted: 08/18/2016] [Indexed: 04/13/2023]
Abstract
Life history theory postulates a trade-off between development and maintenance. This trade-off is observed when comparing life histories of different animal species. In humans, however, it is debated if variation in longevity is explained by differences in developmental traits. Observational studies found a trade-off between early and high fecundity and longevity in women. Development encompasses more than fecundity and also concerns growth and physical performance. Here, we show a life history trade-off between early and above average physical performance and longevity in male Olympic athletes. Athletes who peaked at an earlier age showed 17-percent increased mortality rates (95% CI 8-26% per SD, p≤0.001) and athletes who ranked higher showed 11-percent increased mortality rates (95% CI 1-22% per SD, p=0.025). Male athletes who had both an early and extraordinary peak performance suffered a 4.7-year longevity cost. (95% CI 2.1-7.5 years, p=0.001). This is the first time a life history trade-off between physical performance and longevity has been found in humans. This finding deepens our understanding of early developmental influences on the variation of longevity in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - David van Bodegom
- Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing, 2333 AA Leiden, the Netherlands
- Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Rudi GJ Westendorp
- Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA Leiden, the Netherlands
- Department of Public Health and Center for Healthy Aging, University of Copenhagen, 1165 Copenhagen, Denmark
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Dean MC. Measures of maturation in early fossil hominins: events at the first transition from australopiths to early Homo. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2016; 371:20150234. [PMID: 27298465 PMCID: PMC4920291 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
An important question in palaeoanthropology is whether, among the australopiths and the first fossil hominins attributed to early Homo, there was a shift towards a more prolonged period of growth that can be distinguished from that of the living great apes and whether between the end of weaning and the beginning of puberty there was a slow period of growth as there is in modern humans. Evidence for the pace of growth in early fossil hominins comes from preserved tooth microstructure. A record of incremental growth in enamel and dentine persists, which allows us to reconstruct tooth growth and compare key measures of dental maturation with modern humans and living great apes. Despite their diverse diets and way of life, it is currently difficult to identify any clear differences in the timing of dental development among living great apes, australopiths and the earliest hominins attributed to the genus Homo There is, however, limited evidence that some early hominins may have attained a greater proportion of their body mass and stature relatively earlier in the growth period than is typical of modern humans today.This article is part of the themed issue 'Major transitions in human evolution'.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Christopher Dean
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
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Hoeflich A, Reyer A, Ohde D, Schindler N, Brenmoehl J, Spitschak M, Langhammer M, Tuchscherer A, Wirthgen E, Renner‐Müller I, Wanke R, Metzger F, Bielohuby M, Wolf E. Dissociation of somatic growth, time of sexual maturity, and life expectancy by overexpression of an RGD-deficient IGFBP-2 variant in female transgenic mice. Aging Cell 2016; 15:111-7. [PMID: 26507795 PMCID: PMC4717279 DOI: 10.1111/acel.12413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/18/2015] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Impaired growth is often associated with an extension of lifespan. However, the negative correlation between somatic growth and life expectancy is only true within, but not between, species. This can be observed because smaller species have, as a rule, a shorter lifespan than larger species. In insects and worms, reduced reproductive development and increased fat storage are associated with prolonged lifespan. However, in mammals the relationship between the dynamics of reproductive development, fat metabolism, growth rate, and lifespan are less clear. To address this point, female transgenic mice that were overexpressing similar levels of either intact (D‐mice) or mutant insulin‐like growth factor‐binding protein‐2 (IGFBP‐2) lacking the Arg‐Gly‐Asp (RGD) motif (E‐ mice) were investigated. Both lines of transgenic mice exhibited a similar degree of growth impairment (−9% and −10%) in comparison with wild‐type controls (C‐mice). While in D‐mice, sexual maturation was found to be delayed and life expectancy was significantly increased in comparison with C‐mice, these parameters were unaltered in E‐mice in spite of their reduced growth rate. These observations indicate that the RGD‐domain has a major influence on the pleiotropic effects of IGFBP‐2 and suggest that somatic growth and time of sexual maturity or somatic growth and life expectancy are less closely related than thought previously.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Hoeflich
- Institute for Genome Biology Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) 18196 Dummerstorf Germany
| | - Anja Reyer
- Institute for Genome Biology Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) 18196 Dummerstorf Germany
| | - Daniela Ohde
- Institute for Genome Biology Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) 18196 Dummerstorf Germany
| | - Nancy Schindler
- Institute for Genome Biology Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) 18196 Dummerstorf Germany
| | - Julia Brenmoehl
- Institute for Genome Biology Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) 18196 Dummerstorf Germany
| | - Marion Spitschak
- Institute for Genome Biology Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) 18196 Dummerstorf Germany
| | - Martina Langhammer
- Institute for Genetics and Biometry Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) 18196 Dummerstorf Germany
| | - Armin Tuchscherer
- Institute for Genetics and Biometry Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) 18196 Dummerstorf Germany
| | - Elisa Wirthgen
- Institute for Genome Biology Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) 18196 Dummerstorf Germany
- Ligandis GbR 18276 Gülzow‐Prüzen Germany
| | - Ingrid Renner‐Müller
- Institute of Molecular Animal Breeding and Biotechnology Gene Center LMU Munich 81377 Munich Germany
| | - Rüdiger Wanke
- Institute of Veterinary Pathology LMU Munich 80539 Munich Germany
| | - Friedrich Metzger
- F. Hoffmann‐La Roche Ltd. pRED Pharma Research & Early Development DTA Neuroscience 4070 Basel Switzerland
| | - Maximilian Bielohuby
- Endocrine Research Unit Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik IV Klinikum der Universität 80336 Munich Germany
| | - Eckhard Wolf
- Institute of Molecular Animal Breeding and Biotechnology Gene Center LMU Munich 81377 Munich Germany
- German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) 85764 Neuherberg Germany
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High early life mortality in free-ranging dogs is largely influenced by humans. Sci Rep 2016; 6:19641. [PMID: 26804633 PMCID: PMC4726281 DOI: 10.1038/srep19641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2015] [Accepted: 12/07/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Free-ranging dogs are a ubiquitous part of human habitations in many developing countries, leading a life of scavengers dependent on human wastes for survival. The effective management of free-ranging dogs calls for understanding of their population dynamics. Life expectancy at birth and early life mortality are important factors that shape life-histories of mammals. We carried out a five year-long census based study in seven locations of West Bengal, India, to understand the pattern of population growth and factors affecting early life mortality in free-ranging dogs. We observed high rates of mortality, with only ~19% of the 364 pups from 95 observed litters surviving till the reproductive age; 63% of total mortality being human influenced. While living near people increases resource availability for dogs, it also has deep adverse impacts on their population growth, making the dog-human relationship on streets highly complex.
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26
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Uggla C, Mace R. Local ecology influences reproductive timing in Northern Ireland independently of individual wealth. Behav Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arv133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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Patil VP, Karels TJ, Hik DS. Ecological, evolutionary and social constraints on reproductive effort: are hoary marmots really biennial breeders? PLoS One 2015; 10:e0119081. [PMID: 25768300 PMCID: PMC4359141 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0119081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2014] [Accepted: 01/27/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Biennial breeding is a rare life-history trait observed in animal species living in harsh, unproductive environments. This reproductive pattern is thought to occur in 10 of 14 species in the genus Marmota, making marmots useful model organisms for studying its ecological and evolutionary implications. Biennial breeding in marmots has been described as an obligate pattern which evolved as a mechanism to mitigate the energetic costs of reproduction (Evolved Constraint hypothesis). However, recent anecdotal evidence suggests that it is a facultative pattern controlled by annual variation in climate and food availability (Environmental Constraint hypothesis). Finally, in social animals like marmots, biennial breeding could result from reproductive competition between females within social groups (Social Constraint hypothesis). We evaluated these three hypotheses using mark-recapture data from an 8-year study of hoary marmot (Marmota caligata) population dynamics in the Yukon. Annual variation in breeding probability was modeled using multi-state mark-recapture models, while other reproductive life-history traits were modeled with generalized linear mixed models. Hoary marmots were neither obligate nor facultative biennial breeders, and breeding probability was insensitive to evolved, environmental, or social factors. However, newly mature females were significantly less likely to breed than older individuals. Annual breeding did not result in increased mortality. Female survival and, to a lesser extent, average fecundity were correlated with winter climate, as indexed by the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Hoary marmots are less conservative breeders than previously believed, and the evidence for biennial breeding throughout Marmota, and in other arctic/alpine/antarctic animals, should be re-examined. Prediction of future population dynamics requires an accurate understanding of life history strategies, and of how life history traits allow animals to cope with changes in weather and other demographic influences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vijay P. Patil
- Department of Biology and Wildlife, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, 99775, United States of America
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada
- * E-mail:
| | - Timothy J. Karels
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada
| | - David S. Hik
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada
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Stulp G, Barrett L. Evolutionary perspectives on human height variation. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2014; 91:206-34. [DOI: 10.1111/brv.12165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 121] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2014] [Revised: 10/28/2014] [Accepted: 11/11/2014] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Gert Stulp
- Department of Population Health; London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Keppel Street London WC1E 7HT U.K
- Department of Sociology; University of Groningen; Grote Rozenstraat 31 9712 TS Groningen The Netherlands
| | - Louise Barrett
- Department of Psychology; University of Lethbridge; Lethbridge Alberta T1K 3M4 Canada
- Applied Behavioural Ecology and Ecosystems Research Unit; UNISA; Johannesburg South Africa
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Neill D. Evolution of lifespan. J Theor Biol 2014; 358:232-45. [PMID: 24992233 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2014.06.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2014] [Revised: 06/09/2014] [Accepted: 06/10/2014] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Present-day evolutionary theory, modern synthesis and evo-devo, appear to explain evolution. There remain however several points of contention. These include: biological time, direction, macroevolution verses microevolution, ageing and the extent of internal as opposed to external mediation. A new theoretical model for the control of biological time in vertebrates/bilaterians is introduced. Rather than biological time being controlled solely by a molecular cascade domino effect, it is suggested there is also an intracellular oscillatory clock. This clock (life's timekeeper) is synchronised across all cells in an organism and runs at a constant frequency throughout life. Slower frequencies extend lifespan, increase body/brain size and advance behaviour. They also create a time void which could aid additional evolutionary change. Faster frequencies shorten lifespan, reduce body/brain size and diminish behaviour. They are therefore less likely to mediate evolution in vertebrates/mammals. It is concluded that in vertebrates, especially mammals, there is a direction in evolution towards longer lifespan/advanced behaviour. Lifespan extension could equate with macroevolution and subsequent modifications with microevolution. As life's timekeeper controls the rate of ageing it constitutes a new genetic theory of ageing. Finally, as lifespan extension is internally mediated, this suggests a major role for internal mediation in evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Neill
- University of Newcastle, Wear Base Unit, Monkwearmouth Hospital, Newcastle Road, Sunderland SR5 1NB, UK.
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Yuan R, Gatti DM, Krier R, Malay E, Schultz D, Peters LL, Churchill GA, Harrison DE, Paigen B. Genetic Regulation of Female Sexual Maturation and Longevity Through Circulating IGF1. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2014; 70:817-26. [PMID: 25070661 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glu114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2014] [Accepted: 06/11/2014] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
We previously reported that insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) was involved in coregulating female sexual maturation and longevity. To understand the underlying genetic mechanisms, based on the strain survey assays of development and aging traits, we crossed two mouse strains, KK/HIJ and PL/J, and produced 307 female F2 mice. We observed the age of vaginal patency (AVP) and the life span of these females. We also measured circulating IGF1 level at 7, 16, 24, 52, and 76 weeks. IGF1 level at 7 weeks significantly correlated with AVP. IGF1 levels at ages of 52 and 76 weeks negatively correlated with longevity (p ≤ .05). A gene mapping study found 22, 4 ,and 3 quantitative trait loci for IGF1, AVP, and life span, respectively. Importantly, the colocalization of IGF1, AVP, and life span quantitative trait loci in the distal region of chromosome 2 suggests this locus carries gene(s) that could regulate IGF1, AVP, and life span. In this region, proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 2 has been found to be associated with female sexual maturation in a human genome-wide association study. We verified the roles of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 2 in regulating IGF1 and AVP by showing that depletion of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 2 significantly reduced IGF1 and delayed AVP in mice, suggesting that it also might be involved in the regulation of aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rong Yuan
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine. Geriatric Research Division, Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Southern Illinois University, Springfield.
| | | | - Rebecca Krier
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine. Division of Allergy-Immunology, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
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Pepper GV, Nettle D. Perceived Extrinsic Mortality Risk and Reported Effort in Looking after Health. HUMAN NATURE-AN INTERDISCIPLINARY BIOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVE 2014; 25:378-92. [DOI: 10.1007/s12110-014-9204-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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32
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Affiliation(s)
- Jácint Tökölyi
- MTA-DE ‘Lendület’ Behavioural Ecology Research Group; Department of Evolutionary Zoology; University of Debrecen; 4032 Debrecen Egyetem tér 1. Hungary
| | - Júlia Schmidt
- MTA-DE ‘Lendület’ Behavioural Ecology Research Group; Department of Evolutionary Zoology; University of Debrecen; 4032 Debrecen Egyetem tér 1. Hungary
| | - Zoltán Barta
- MTA-DE ‘Lendület’ Behavioural Ecology Research Group; Department of Evolutionary Zoology; University of Debrecen; 4032 Debrecen Egyetem tér 1. Hungary
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Death and the time of your life: experiences of close bereavement are associated with steeper financial future discounting and earlier reproduction. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Carter S, Caron A, Richard D, Picard F. Role of leptin resistance in the development of obesity in older patients. Clin Interv Aging 2013; 8:829-44. [PMID: 23869170 PMCID: PMC3706252 DOI: 10.2147/cia.s36367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Obesity is a global epidemic associated with aging-like cellular processes; in both aging and obesity, resistance to hormones such as insulin and leptin can be observed. Leptin is a circulating hormone/cytokine with central and peripheral effects that is released mainly by subcutaneous white adipose tissue. Centrally, leptin controls food intake, energy expenditure, and fat distribution, whereas it controls (among several others) insulin sensitivity, free fatty acids (FFAs) oxidation, and lipolysis in the periphery. Aging is associated with important changes in both the distribution and the composition of adipose tissue. Fat is redistributed from the subcutaneous to the visceral depot and increased inflammation participates in adipocyte dysfunction. This redistribution of adipose tissue in favor of visceral fat influences negatively both longevity and healthy aging as shown in numerous animal models. These modifications observed during aging are also associated with leptin resistance. This resistance blunts normal central and peripheral functions of leptin, which leads to a decrease in neuroendocrine function and insulin sensitivity, an imbalance in energy regulation, and disturbances in lipid metabolism. Here, we review how age-related leptin resistance triggers metabolic disturbances and affects the longevity of obese patients. Furthermore, we discuss the potential impacts of leptin resistance on the decline of brown adipose tissue thermogenesis observed in elderly individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Carter
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
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36
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Neill D. Life's timekeeper. Ageing Res Rev 2013; 12:567-78. [PMID: 23354279 DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2013.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2012] [Revised: 01/08/2013] [Accepted: 01/10/2013] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Life's timekeeper is a 'free-running' intracellular oscillator synchronised across all cells. It runs throughout life splitting lifespan into equal length phases. During the maturational period it controls the overall rate of progression whereas in the post-maturational period it controls the overall rate of ageing. This includes the rate of senescence and hence time to death. As such life's timekeeper equates maturational and post-maturational time, hence explains the tight correlation between these time periods that has existed throughout mammalian evolution. Life's timekeeper is proposed to have played an important role in vertebrate evolution. A slower oscillatory frequency results in proportional life phase prolongation. This leads to increased body and brain size, together with extended lifespan. Higher brain centres, neocortex in mammals, are disproportionately enlarged. Hence behavioural capacity is increased. The extended post-maturational period ensures that there is enough time in order that the behavioural advantages can be fully manifest in the environment. A faster oscillatory frequency would result in proportional life phase reduction. This process however would lead to reduced behavioural capacity, and is hence unlikely to be positively selected. Therefore throughout evolution life's timekeeper has operated to extend lifespan. It has hence functioned to promote longevity as opposed to ageing.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Neill
- Department of Psychiatry, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom.
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Migliano AB, Guillon M. The Effects of Mortality, Subsistence, and Ecology on Human Adult Height and Implications for Homo Evolution. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2012. [DOI: 10.1086/667694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Péron G. Compensation and additivity of anthropogenic mortality: life-history effects and review of methods. J Anim Ecol 2012. [PMID: 23194410 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Demographic compensation, the increase in average individual performance following a perturbation that reduces population size, and, its opposite, demographic overadditivity (or superadditivity) are central processes in both population ecology and wildlife management. A continuum of population responses to changes in cause-specific mortality exists, of which additivity and complete compensation constitute particular points. The position of a population on that continuum influences its ability to sustain exploitation and predation. Here I describe a method for quantifying where a population is on the continuum. Based on variance-covariance formulae, I describe a simple metric for the rate of compensation-additivity. I synthesize the results from 10 wildlife capture-recapture monitoring programmes from the literature and online databases, reviewing current statistical methods and the treatment of common sources of bias. These results are used to test hypotheses regarding the effects of life-history strategy, population density, average cause-specific mortality and age class on the rate of compensation-additivity. This comparative analysis highlights that long-lived species compensate less than short-lived species and that populations below their carrying capacity compensate less than those above.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Péron
- Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Logan, UT, 84322-5230, USA; Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, 12100 Beech Forest Road, Laurel, MD, 20708-4017, USA; USGS Colorado Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Colorado State University, 1484 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1484, USA
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Linden M, Møller AP. Cost of reproduction and covariation of life history traits in birds. Trends Ecol Evol 2012; 4:367-71. [PMID: 21227380 DOI: 10.1016/0169-5347(89)90101-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 202] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Evolution of life history traits can be studied at two different levels: (1) current selection processes, including trade-offs in life history traits in natural populations as revealed by observations or, preferably, exieriments; and (2) patterns of variation in life history traits with each other and with ecology among extant species. Selection is not evolution, but selection pressures must have caused evolutionary change and led to current patterns of life history traits. These problems are exemplified by recent research on clutch size in birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Linden
- M. Lindén and A.P. Møller are at the Dept of Zoology, Box 561, Uppsala University, S-751 22 Uppsala, Sweden
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Kozłowski J. Optimal allocation of resources to growth and reproduction: Implications for age and size at maturity. Trends Ecol Evol 2012; 7:15-9. [PMID: 21235937 DOI: 10.1016/0169-5347(92)90192-e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 266] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The schedule of growth and reproduction is crucial to maximization of fitness. Models of optimal allocation of limiting resources are useful tools for predicting age and size at maturity - key components of fitness - for all lifestyles. Early models considered annual plants. Recently, they have been generalized to other short-lived organisms and also to perennials in which growth and reproduction schedules following maturation can be predicted. A review of existing models shows that differences in trophic conditions and mortality are the main sources of inter- and intraspecific variation in size.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Kozłowski
- Institute of Environmental Biology, Jagiellonian University, Oleandry 2a, 30-063 Krakow, Poland
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Moreno-Arias RA, Urbina-Cardona JN. Population Dynamics of the Andean LizardAnolis heterodermus: Fast-slow Demographic Strategies in Fragmented Scrubland Landscapes. Biotropica 2012. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2012.00903.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rafael A. Moreno-Arias
- Grupo Biodiversidad y Conservación; Instituto de Ciencias Naturales; Universidad Nacional de Colombia; Ciudad Universitaria Edificio 425; Bogotã D.C; Columbia
| | - J. Nicolás Urbina-Cardona
- Departamento de Ecología y Territorio; Facultad de Estudios Ambientales y Rurales; Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; Transversal 4 No 42-00 Edificio J. Rafael Arboleda; Bogotá D.C; Columbia
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de Villemereuil P, Wells JA, Edwards RD, Blomberg SP. Bayesian models for comparative analysis integrating phylogenetic uncertainty. BMC Evol Biol 2012; 12:102. [PMID: 22741602 PMCID: PMC3582467 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-12-102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2012] [Accepted: 05/21/2012] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Uncertainty in comparative analyses can come from at least two sources: a) phylogenetic uncertainty in the tree topology or branch lengths, and b) uncertainty due to intraspecific variation in trait values, either due to measurement error or natural individual variation. Most phylogenetic comparative methods do not account for such uncertainties. Not accounting for these sources of uncertainty leads to false perceptions of precision (confidence intervals will be too narrow) and inflated significance in hypothesis testing (e.g. p-values will be too small). Although there is some application-specific software for fitting Bayesian models accounting for phylogenetic error, more general and flexible software is desirable. Methods We developed models to directly incorporate phylogenetic uncertainty into a range of analyses that biologists commonly perform, using a Bayesian framework and Markov Chain Monte Carlo analyses. Results We demonstrate applications in linear regression, quantification of phylogenetic signal, and measurement error models. Phylogenetic uncertainty was incorporated by applying a prior distribution for the phylogeny, where this distribution consisted of the posterior tree sets from Bayesian phylogenetic tree estimation programs. The models were analysed using simulated data sets, and applied to a real data set on plant traits, from rainforest plant species in Northern Australia. Analyses were performed using the free and open source software OpenBUGS and JAGS. Conclusions Incorporating phylogenetic uncertainty through an empirical prior distribution of trees leads to more precise estimation of regression model parameters than using a single consensus tree and enables a more realistic estimation of confidence intervals. In addition, models incorporating measurement errors and/or individual variation, in one or both variables, are easily formulated in the Bayesian framework. We show that BUGS is a useful, flexible general purpose tool for phylogenetic comparative analyses, particularly for modelling in the face of phylogenetic uncertainty and accounting for measurement error or individual variation in explanatory variables. Code for all models is provided in the BUGS model description language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre de Villemereuil
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072 Queensland, Australia
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Swanson EM, Holekamp KE, Lundrigan BL, Arsznov BM, Sakai ST. Multiple determinants of whole and regional brain volume among terrestrial carnivorans. PLoS One 2012; 7:e38447. [PMID: 22719890 PMCID: PMC3374790 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0038447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2012] [Accepted: 05/07/2012] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Mammalian brain volumes vary considerably, even after controlling for body size. Although several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this variation, most research in mammals on the evolution of encephalization has focused on primates, leaving the generality of these explanations uncertain. Furthermore, much research still addresses only one hypothesis at a time, despite the demonstrated importance of considering multiple factors simultaneously. We used phylogenetic comparative methods to investigate simultaneously the importance of several factors previously hypothesized to be important in neural evolution among mammalian carnivores, including social complexity, forelimb use, home range size, diet, life history, phylogeny, and recent evolutionary changes in body size. We also tested hypotheses suggesting roles for these variables in determining the relative volume of four brain regions measured using computed tomography. Our data suggest that, in contrast to brain size in primates, carnivoran brain size may lag behind body size over evolutionary time. Moreover, carnivore species that primarily consume vertebrates have the largest brains. Although we found no support for a role of social complexity in overall encephalization, relative cerebrum volume correlated positively with sociality. Finally, our results support negative relationships among different brain regions after accounting for overall endocranial volume, suggesting that increased size of one brain regions is often accompanied by reduced size in other regions rather than overall brain expansion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eli M Swanson
- Department of Zoology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America.
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Genetic coregulation of age of female sexual maturation and lifespan through circulating IGF1 among inbred mouse strains. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2012; 109:8224-9. [PMID: 22566614 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1121113109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
We previously reported that mouse strains with lower circulating insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) level at 6 mo have significantly extended longevity. Here we report that strains with lower IGF1 have significantly delayed age of female sexual maturation, measured by vaginal patency (VP). Among strains with normal lifespans (mean lifespan >600 d), delayed age of VP associated with greater longevity (P = 0.015), suggesting a genetically regulated tradeoff at least partly mediated by IGF1. Supporting this hypothesis, C57BL/6J females had 9% lower IGF1, 6% delayed age of VP, and 24% extended lifespan compared with C57BL/6J.C3H/HeJ-Igf1, which carries a C3H/HeJ allele on chromosome (Chr) 10 that increases IGF1. To identify genetic loci/genes that regulate female sexual maturation, including loci that mediate lifespan tradeoffs, we performed haplotype association mapping for age of VP and identified significant loci on Chrs 4 (Vpq1) and 16 (Vpq2 and 3). At each locus, wild-derived strains share a unique haplotype that associates with delayed VP. Substitution of Chr 16 of C57BL/6J with Chr 16 from a wild-derived strain significantly reduced IGF1 and delayed VP. Strains with a wild-derived allele at Vpq3 have significantly extended longevity compared with strains with other alleles. Bioinformatic analysis identified Nrip1 at Vpq3 as a candidate gene. Nrip1(-/-) females have significantly reduced IGF1 and delayed age of VP compared with Nrip1(+/+) females. We conclude that IGF1 may coregulate female sexual maturation and longevity; wild-derived strains carry specific alleles that delay sexual maturation; and Nrip1 is involved in regulating sexual maturation and may affect longevity by regulating IGF1 level.
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Associative memory or algorithmic search: a comparative study on learning strategies of bats and shrews. Anim Cogn 2012; 15:495-504. [DOI: 10.1007/s10071-012-0474-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2011] [Revised: 11/21/2011] [Accepted: 02/08/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Pavard S, Branger F. Effect of maternal and grandmaternal care on population dynamics and human life-history evolution: a matrix projection model. Theor Popul Biol 2012; 82:364-76. [PMID: 22326750 DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2012.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2011] [Revised: 01/23/2012] [Accepted: 01/23/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
We present a matrix population model for a single-sex human population comprising non-orphan daughters (whose mothers are alive) and orphan daughters (whose mothers are dead). Orphans suffer higher mortality than non-orphans, which simulates the need for daughters to receive maternal care in order to survive. The way that maternal care affects population dynamics and life-history evolution is then analysed for demographic regimes that encompass large ranges of daughter survival, mother survival and fertility. We provide stable age-distributions of orphans and non-orphans for each regime and perform sensitivity analyses on daughter survival, adult survival and fertility. The results show that natural selection will favour (i) faster daughter independence from maternal care, (ii) higher adult survival at all ages, and (iii) early reproduction to the detriment of late reproduction. We then build scenarios concerning the coevolution of daughter survival and maternal care with adult survival and fertility. We also incorporate grandmaternal care into the model. We show that (i) the acute altriciality of human babies, (ii) the increased maternal care resulting from emergence of complex sociality and (iii) the role played by grandmothers in caring for granddaughters may have led to the emergence of specific human life-history traits: a short reproductive period characterised by a reproductive senescence and menopause, as well as an extended lifespan characterised by a post-reproductive life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel Pavard
- UMR 7206 Eco-Anthropologie, Equipe Génétique desPopulations Humaines, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France.
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Kim E, Donohue K. The effect of plant architecture on drought resistance: implications for the evolution of semelparity inErysimum capitatum. Funct Ecol 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2011.01936.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Dantzer B, Swanson EM. Mediation of vertebrate life histories via insulin-like growth factor-1. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2011; 87:414-29. [PMID: 21981025 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-185x.2011.00204.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Life-history traits describe parameters associated with growth, size, survival, and reproduction. Life-history variation is a hallmark of biological diversity, yet researchers commonly observe that one of the major axes of life-history variation after controlling for body size involves trade-offs among growth, reproduction, and longevity. This persistent pattern of covariation among these specific traits has engendered a search for shared mechanisms that could constrain or facilitate production of variation in life-history strategies. Endocrine traits are one candidate mechanism that may underlie the integration of life history and other phenotypic traits. However, the vast majority of this research has been on the effects of steroid hormones such as glucocorticoids and androgens on life-history trade-offs. Here we propose an expansion of the focus on glucocorticoids and gonadal hormones and review the potential role of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in shaping the adaptive integration of multiple life-history traits. IGF-1 is a polypeptide metabolic hormone largely produced by the liver. We summarize a vast array of research demonstrating that IGF-1 levels are susceptible to environmental variation and that IGF-1 can have potent stimulatory effects on somatic growth and reproduction but decrease lifespan. We review the few studies in natural populations that have measured plasma IGF-1 concentrations and its associations with life-history traits or other characteristics of the organism or its environment. We focus on two case studies that found support for the hypothesis that IGF-1 mediates adaptive divergence in suites of life-history traits in response to varying ecological conditions or artificial selection. We also examine what we view as potentially fruitful avenues of research on this topic, which until now has been rarely investigated by evolutionary ecologists. We discuss how IGF-1 may facilitate adaptive plasticity in life-history strategies in response to early environmental conditions and also how selection on loci controlling IGF-1 signaling may mediate population divergence and eventual speciation. After consideration of the interactions among androgens, glucocorticoids, and IGF-1 we suggest that IGF-1 be considered a suitable candidate mechanism for mediating life-history traits. Finally, we discuss what we can learn about IGF-1 from studies in free-ranging animals. The voluminous literature in laboratory and domesticated animals documenting relationships among IGF-1, growth, reproduction, and lifespan demonstrates the potential for a number of new research questions to be asked in free-ranging animals. Examining how IGF-1 mediates life-history traits in free-ranging animals could lead to great insight into the mechanisms that influence life-history variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ben Dantzer
- Department of Zoology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
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