Maximum longevities of chemically protected and non-protected fishes, reptiles, and amphibians support evolutionary hypotheses of aging - PubMed (original) (raw)

. 2005 Jun-Jul;126(6-7):794-803.

doi: 10.1016/j.mad.2005.02.006. Epub 2005 Mar 31.

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Maximum longevities of chemically protected and non-protected fishes, reptiles, and amphibians support evolutionary hypotheses of aging

M Andres Blanco et al. Mech Ageing Dev. 2005 Jun-Jul.

Abstract

Evolutionary hypotheses of aging predict that species with low rates of mortality from extrinsic sources, such as predation, should senesce more slowly and have longer maximum life spans than related species with higher rates of extrinsic mortality. We tested this prediction by synthesizing information on maximum body lengths and life spans in captivity of 1193 species of chemically protected (venomous or poisonous) and non-chemically protected fishes, snakes, caudatans (salamanders and newts), and anurans (frogs and toads). In every phylogenetic group maximum longevity was positively correlated with body size and, when size was controlled for statistically, chemically protected species and genera usually had longer maximum life spans than non-protected species. These results reemphasize the importance of life history traits, particularly protection from predation, in the evolution of senescence.

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