The long lives of primates and the ‘invariant rate of ageing’ hypothesis

Colchero, Fernando; Aburto, José Manuel; Archie, Elizabeth A.; Boesch, Christophe; Breuer, Thomas; Campos, Fernando A.; Collins, Anthony; Conde, Dalia A.; Cords, Marina; Crockford, Catherine; Thompson, Melissa Emery; Fedigan, Linda M.; Fichtel, Claudia; Groenenberg, Milou; Hobaiter, Catherine; Kappeler, Peter M.; Lawler, Richard R.; Lewis, Rebecca J.; Machanda, Zarin P.; Manguette, Marie L.; Muller, Martin N.; Packer, Craig; Parnell, Richard J.; Perry, Susan; Pusey, Anne E.; Robbins, Martha M.; Seyfarth, Robert M.; Silk, Joan B.; Staerk, Johanna; Stoinski, Tara S.; Stokes, Emma J.; Strier, Karen B.; Strum, Shirley C.; Tung, Jenny; Villavicencio, Francisco; Wittig, Roman M.; Wrangham, Richard W.; Zuberbühler, Klaus; Vaupel, James W.; Alberts, Susan C.

The long lives of primates and the ‘invariant rate of ageing’ hypothesis

Fernando Colchero (), José Manuel Aburto, Elizabeth A. Archie, Christophe Boesch, Thomas Breuer, Fernando A. Campos, Anthony Collins, Dalia A. Conde, Marina Cords, Catherine Crockford, Melissa Emery Thompson, Linda M. Fedigan, Claudia Fichtel, Milou Groenenberg, Catherine Hobaiter, Peter M. Kappeler, Richard R. Lawler, Rebecca J. Lewis, Zarin P. Machanda, Marie L. Manguette, Martin N. Muller, Craig Packer, Richard J. Parnell, Susan Perry, Anne E. Pusey, Martha M. Robbins, Robert M. Seyfarth, Joan B. Silk, Johanna Staerk, Tara S. Stoinski, Emma J. Stokes, Karen B. Strier, Shirley C. Strum, Jenny Tung, Francisco Villavicencio, Roman M. Wittig, Richard W. Wrangham, Klaus Zuberbühler, James W. Vaupel and Susan C. Alberts ()
Additional contact information
Fernando Colchero: University of Southern Denmark
José Manuel Aburto: University of Southern Denmark
Elizabeth A. Archie: University of Notre Dame
Christophe Boesch: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Thomas Breuer: Wildlife Conservation Society Congo Program
Fernando A. Campos: University of Texas at San Antonio
Anthony Collins: Gombe Stream Research Centre, Jane Goodall Institute
Dalia A. Conde: University of Southern Denmark
Marina Cords: Columbia University
Catherine Crockford: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Melissa Emery Thompson: University of New Mexico
Linda M. Fedigan: University of Calgary
Claudia Fichtel: German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research
Milou Groenenberg: Wildlife Conservation Society Congo Program
Catherine Hobaiter: University of St Andrews
Peter M. Kappeler: German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research
Richard R. Lawler: James Madison University
Rebecca J. Lewis: University of Texas at Austin
Zarin P. Machanda: Kibale Chimpanzee Project
Marie L. Manguette: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Martin N. Muller: University of New Mexico
Craig Packer: University of Minnesota
Richard J. Parnell: Wildlife Conservation Society Congo Program
Susan Perry: Department of Anthropology, and Behavior, Evolution & Culture Program, UCLA
Anne E. Pusey: Duke University
Martha M. Robbins: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Robert M. Seyfarth: University of Pennsylvania
Joan B. Silk: Arizona State University
Johanna Staerk: University of Southern Denmark
Tara S. Stoinski: Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International
Emma J. Stokes: Wildlife Conservation Society, Global Conservation Program
Karen B. Strier: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Shirley C. Strum: University of California, San Diego
Jenny Tung: Duke University
Francisco Villavicencio: Johns Hopkins University
Roman M. Wittig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Richard W. Wrangham: Kibale Chimpanzee Project
Klaus Zuberbühler: University of St Andrews
James W. Vaupel: University of Southern Denmark
Susan C. Alberts: Duke University

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Is it possible to slow the rate of ageing, or do biological constraints limit its plasticity? We test the ‘invariant rate of ageing’ hypothesis, which posits that the rate of ageing is relatively fixed within species, with a collection of 39 human and nonhuman primate datasets across seven genera. We first recapitulate, in nonhuman primates, the highly regular relationship between life expectancy and lifespan equality seen in humans. We next demonstrate that variation in the rate of ageing within genera is orders of magnitude smaller than variation in pre-adult and age-independent mortality. Finally, we demonstrate that changes in the rate of ageing, but not other mortality parameters, produce striking, species-atypical changes in mortality patterns. Our results support the invariant rate of ageing hypothesis, implying biological constraints on how much the human rate of ageing can be slowed.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23894-3

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