TY - JOUR
T1 - Sex differences in adult lifespan and aging rates of mortality across wild mammals
AU - Lemaître, Jean François
AU - Ronget, Victor
AU - Tidière, Morgane
AU - Allainé, Dominique
AU - Berger, Vérane
AU - Cohas, Aurélie
AU - Colchero, Fernando
AU - Conde, Dalia A.
AU - Garratt, Michael
AU - Liker, András
AU - Marais, Gabriel A.B.
AU - Scheuerlein, Alexander
AU - Székely, Tamás
AU - Gaillard, Jean Michel
PY - 2020/4/14
Y1 - 2020/4/14
N2 - In human populations, women consistently outlive men, which suggests profound biological foundations for sex differences in survival. Quantifying whether such sex differences are also pervasive in wild mammals is a crucial challenge in both evolutionary biology and biogerontology. Here, we compile demographic data from 134 mammal populations, encompassing 101 species, to show that the female's median lifespan is on average 18.6% longer than that of conspecific males, whereas in humans the female advantage is on average 7.8%. On the contrary, we do not find any consistent sex differences in aging rates. In addition, sex differences in median adult lifespan and aging rates are both highly variable across species. Our analyses suggest that the magnitude of sex differences in mammalian mortality patterns is likely shaped by local environmental conditions in interaction with the sex-specific costs of sexual selection.
AB - In human populations, women consistently outlive men, which suggests profound biological foundations for sex differences in survival. Quantifying whether such sex differences are also pervasive in wild mammals is a crucial challenge in both evolutionary biology and biogerontology. Here, we compile demographic data from 134 mammal populations, encompassing 101 species, to show that the female's median lifespan is on average 18.6% longer than that of conspecific males, whereas in humans the female advantage is on average 7.8%. On the contrary, we do not find any consistent sex differences in aging rates. In addition, sex differences in median adult lifespan and aging rates are both highly variable across species. Our analyses suggest that the magnitude of sex differences in mammalian mortality patterns is likely shaped by local environmental conditions in interaction with the sex-specific costs of sexual selection.
KW - Comparative analysis
KW - Life history
KW - Longevity
KW - Senescence
KW - Sexual selection
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85083193419&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1911999117
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1911999117
M3 - Article
C2 - 32205429
AN - SCOPUS:85083193419
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 117
SP - 8546
EP - 8553
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 15
ER -
