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; Susan C. Alberts

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23894-3

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. ManguetteMartin 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, Susan C. Alberts

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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.

Original language	English
Article number	3666
Number of pages	10
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23894-3
Publication status	Published - 16 Jun 2021

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1038/s41467-021-23894-3Licence: CC BY

Colchero_2021_NC_LongLives_CC
Copyright © The Author(s) 2021. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Final published version, 1.13 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Colchero, F., Aburto, J. M., Archie, E. A., Boesch, C., Breuer, T., Campos, F. A., Collins, A., Conde, D. A., Cords, M., Crockford, C., Thompson, M. E., Fedigan, L. M., Fichtel, C., Groenenberg, M., Hobaiter, C., Kappeler, P. M., Lawler, R. R., Lewis, R. J., Machanda, Z. P., ... Alberts, S. C. (2021). The long lives of primates and the ‘invariant rate of ageing’ hypothesis. Nature Communications, 12, Article 3666. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23894-3

@article{51dbc9e6d7fc4ded9116ff733b50aa03,

title = "The long lives of primates and the {\textquoteleft}invariant rate of ageing{\textquoteright} hypothesis",

abstract = "Is it possible to slow the rate of ageing, or do biological constraints limit its plasticity? We test the {\textquoteleft}invariant rate of ageing{\textquoteright} 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.",

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

note = "This work was supported by NIA P01AG031719 to J.W.V. and S.C.A., with additional support provided by the Max Planck Institute of Demographic Research and the Duke University Population Research Institute.",

year = "2021",

month = jun,

day = "16",

doi = "10.1038/s41467-021-23894-3",

language = "English",

volume = "12",

journal = "Nature Communications",

issn = "2041-1723",

publisher = "Nature publishing group",

}

Colchero, F, Aburto, JM, Archie, EA, Boesch, C, Breuer, T, Campos, FA, Collins, A, Conde, DA, Cords, M, Crockford, C, Thompson, ME, Fedigan, LM, Fichtel, C, Groenenberg, M, Hobaiter, C, Kappeler, PM, Lawler, RR, Lewis, RJ, Machanda, ZP, Manguette, ML, Muller, MN, Packer, C, Parnell, RJ, Perry, S, Pusey, AE, Robbins, MM, Seyfarth, RM, Silk, JB, Staerk, J, Stoinski, TS, Stokes, EJ, Strier, KB, Strum, SC, Tung, J, Villavicencio, F, Wittig, RM, Wrangham, RW, Zuberbühler, K, Vaupel, JW & Alberts, SC 2021, 'The long lives of primates and the ‘invariant rate of ageing’ hypothesis', Nature Communications, vol. 12, 3666. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23894-3

TY - JOUR

T1 - The long lives of primates and the ‘invariant rate of ageing’ hypothesis

AU - Colchero, Fernando

AU - Aburto, José Manuel

AU - Archie, Elizabeth A.

AU - Boesch, Christophe

AU - Breuer, Thomas

AU - Campos, Fernando A.

AU - Collins, Anthony

AU - Conde, Dalia A.

AU - Cords, Marina

AU - Crockford, Catherine

AU - Thompson, Melissa Emery

AU - Fedigan, Linda M.

AU - Fichtel, Claudia

AU - Groenenberg, Milou

AU - Hobaiter, Catherine

AU - Kappeler, Peter M.

AU - Lawler, Richard R.

AU - Lewis, Rebecca J.

AU - Machanda, Zarin P.

AU - Manguette, Marie L.

AU - Muller, Martin N.

AU - Packer, Craig

AU - Parnell, Richard J.

AU - Perry, Susan

AU - Pusey, Anne E.

AU - Robbins, Martha M.

AU - Seyfarth, Robert M.

AU - Silk, Joan B.

AU - Staerk, Johanna

AU - Stoinski, Tara S.

AU - Stokes, Emma J.

AU - Strier, Karen B.

AU - Strum, Shirley C.

AU - Tung, Jenny

AU - Villavicencio, Francisco

AU - Wittig, Roman M.

AU - Wrangham, Richard W.

AU - Zuberbühler, Klaus

AU - Vaupel, James W.

AU - Alberts, Susan C.

N1 - This work was supported by NIA P01AG031719 to J.W.V. and S.C.A., with additional support provided by the Max Planck Institute of Demographic Research and the Duke University Population Research Institute.

PY - 2021/6/16

Y1 - 2021/6/16

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-23894-3#Sec17

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-021-23894-3

DO - 10.1038/s41467-021-23894-3

M3 - Article

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 12

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

M1 - 3666

ER -

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

Abstract

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this