Diverse aging rates in ectothermic tetrapods provide insights for the evolution of aging and longevity
Beth A. Reinke, Hugo Cayuela, Fredric J. Janzen, Jean‐François Lemaître, Jean‐Michel Gaillard, A. Michelle Lawing, John B. Iverson, Ditte G. Christiansen, Íñigo Martínez-Solano, Gregorio Sánchez‐Montes, Jorge Gutiérrez‐Rodríguez, Francis L. Rose, Nicola J. Nelson, Susan N. Keall, Alain J. Crivellì, Theodoros Nazirides, Annegret Grimm‐Seyfarth, Klaus Henle, Emiliano Mori, Gaëtan Guiller, Rebecca Newcomb Homan, Anthony Olivier, Erin Muths, Blake R. Hossack, Xavier Bonnet, David S. Pilliod, Marieke Lettink, Tony Whitaker, Benedikt R. Schmidt, M. Gardner, Marc Cheylan, Françoise Poitevin, Ana Golubović, Ljiljana Tomović, Dragan Arsovski, Richard A. Griffiths, Jan W. Arntzen, Jean‐Pierre Baron, Jean‐François Le Galliard, Thomas N. Tully, Luca Luiselli, Massimo Capula, Lorenzo Rugiero, Rebecca McCaffery, Lisa A. Eby, Venetia Briggs‐Gonzalez, Frank J. Mazzotti, David Pearson, Brad A. Lambert, David M. Green, Nathalie Jreidini, Claudio Angelini, Graham H. Pyke, Jean‐Marc Thirion, Pierre Joly, Jean‐Paul Léna, Anton D. Tucker, Col Limpus, Pauline Priol, Aurélien Besnard, Pauline Bernard, Kristin Stanford, Richard B. King, Justin M. Garwood, Jaime Bosch, Franco L. Souza, Jaime Bertoluci, Shirley Famelli, Kurt Grossenbacher, Omar Lenzi, Kathleen Matthews, Sylvain Boitaud, Deanna H. Olson, Tim S. Jessop, Graeme R. Gillespie, Jean Clobert, Murielle Richard, Andrés Valenzuela‐Sánchez, Gary M. Fellers, Patrick M. Kleeman, Brian J. Halstead, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Phillip G. Byrne, THIERRY FRÉTEY, Bernard Le Garff, Pauline Levionnois, John C. Maerz, Julian Pichenot, Kurtuluş Olgun, Nazan Üzüm, Aziz Avcı, Claude Miaud, Johan Elmberg, Gregory P. Brown, Richard Shine, Nathan F. Bendik, Lisa O’Donnell, Courtney L. Davis, Michael J. Lannoo, Rochelle M. Stiles
Abstract
Comparative studies of mortality in the wild are necessary to understand the evolution of aging; yet, ectothermic tetrapods are underrepresented in this comparative landscape, despite their suitability for testing evolutionary hypotheses. We present a study of aging rates and longevity across wild tetrapod ectotherms, using data from 107 populations (77 species) of nonavian reptiles and amphibians. We test hypotheses of how thermoregulatory mode, environmental temperature, protective phenotypes, and pace of life history contribute to demographic aging. Controlling for phylogeny and body size, ectotherms display a higher diversity of aging rates compared with endotherms and include phylogenetically widespread evidence of negligible aging. Protective phenotypes and life-history strategies further explain macroevolutionary patterns of aging. Analyzing ectothermic tetrapods in a comparative context enhances our understanding of the evolution of aging.