Are reproductive and somatic senescence coupled in humans? Late, but not early, reproduction correlated with longevity in historical Sami women
Evolutionary theory of senescence emphasizes the importance of intense selection on early reproduction owing to the declining force of natural selection with age that constrains lifespan. In humans, recent studies have, however, suggested that late-life mortality might be more closely related to lat...
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2004.2944 2024-09-15T18:33:20+00:00 Are reproductive and somatic senescence coupled in humans? Late, but not early, reproduction correlated with longevity in historical Sami women Helle, Samuli Lummaa, Virpi Jokela, Jukka 2005 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2004.2944 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2004.2944 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 272, issue 1558, page 29-37 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 journal-article 2005 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2004.2944 2024-08-26T04:20:57Z Evolutionary theory of senescence emphasizes the importance of intense selection on early reproduction owing to the declining force of natural selection with age that constrains lifespan. In humans, recent studies have, however, suggested that late-life mortality might be more closely related to late rather than early reproduction, although the role of late reproduction on fitness remains unclear. We examined the association between early and late reproduction with longevity in historical post-reproductive Sami women. We also estimated the strength of natural selection on early and late reproduction using path analysis, and the effect of reproductive timing on offspring survival to adulthood and maternal risk of dying at childbirth. We found that natural selection favoured both earlier start and later cessation of reproduction, and higher total fe cundity. Maternal age at childbirth was not related to offspring or maternal survival. Interestingly, females who produced their last offspring at advanced age also lived longest, while age at first reproduction and total fecundity were unrelated to female longevity. Our results thus suggest that reproductive and somatic senescence may have been coupled in these human populations, and that selection could have favoured late reproduction. We discuss alternative hypotheses for the mechanisms which might have promoted the association between late reproduction and longevity. Article in Journal/Newspaper sami The Royal Society Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 272 1558 29 37 |
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Evolutionary theory of senescence emphasizes the importance of intense selection on early reproduction owing to the declining force of natural selection with age that constrains lifespan. In humans, recent studies have, however, suggested that late-life mortality might be more closely related to late rather than early reproduction, although the role of late reproduction on fitness remains unclear. We examined the association between early and late reproduction with longevity in historical post-reproductive Sami women. We also estimated the strength of natural selection on early and late reproduction using path analysis, and the effect of reproductive timing on offspring survival to adulthood and maternal risk of dying at childbirth. We found that natural selection favoured both earlier start and later cessation of reproduction, and higher total fe cundity. Maternal age at childbirth was not related to offspring or maternal survival. Interestingly, females who produced their last offspring at advanced age also lived longest, while age at first reproduction and total fecundity were unrelated to female longevity. Our results thus suggest that reproductive and somatic senescence may have been coupled in these human populations, and that selection could have favoured late reproduction. We discuss alternative hypotheses for the mechanisms which might have promoted the association between late reproduction and longevity. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Helle, Samuli Lummaa, Virpi Jokela, Jukka |
spellingShingle |
Helle, Samuli Lummaa, Virpi Jokela, Jukka Are reproductive and somatic senescence coupled in humans? Late, but not early, reproduction correlated with longevity in historical Sami women |
author_facet |
Helle, Samuli Lummaa, Virpi Jokela, Jukka |
author_sort |
Helle, Samuli |
title |
Are reproductive and somatic senescence coupled in humans? Late, but not early, reproduction correlated with longevity in historical Sami women |
title_short |
Are reproductive and somatic senescence coupled in humans? Late, but not early, reproduction correlated with longevity in historical Sami women |
title_full |
Are reproductive and somatic senescence coupled in humans? Late, but not early, reproduction correlated with longevity in historical Sami women |
title_fullStr |
Are reproductive and somatic senescence coupled in humans? Late, but not early, reproduction correlated with longevity in historical Sami women |
title_full_unstemmed |
Are reproductive and somatic senescence coupled in humans? Late, but not early, reproduction correlated with longevity in historical Sami women |
title_sort |
are reproductive and somatic senescence coupled in humans? late, but not early, reproduction correlated with longevity in historical sami women |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2004.2944 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2004.2944 |
genre |
sami |
genre_facet |
sami |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 272, issue 1558, page 29-37 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2004.2944 |
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Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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272 |
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1558 |
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29 |
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37 |
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1810475058869567488 |