Asian elephants exhibit post-reproductive lifespans
Background The existence of extended post-reproductive lifespan is an evolutionary puzzle, and its taxonomic prevalence is debated. One way of measuring post-reproductive life is with post-reproductive representation, the proportion of adult years lived by females after cessation of reproduction. An...
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ftunivturku:oai:www.utupub.fi:10024/162855 2023-05-15T18:33:25+02:00 Asian elephants exhibit post-reproductive lifespans Lahdenperä M Chapman SN Jackson J Htut W Lummaa V ekologia ja evoluutiobiologia, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 2606402 2022-10-28T13:06:36Z https://www.utupub.fi/handle/10024/162855 en eng BMC United Kingdom Britannia GB 19 ARTN 193 10.1186/s12862-019-1513-1 BMC Evolutionary Biology 1 https://www.utupub.fi/handle/10024/162855 URN:NBN:fi-fe2021042821245 1471-2148 2022 ftunivturku 2022-11-03T00:00:39Z Background The existence of extended post-reproductive lifespan is an evolutionary puzzle, and its taxonomic prevalence is debated. One way of measuring post-reproductive life is with post-reproductive representation, the proportion of adult years lived by females after cessation of reproduction. Analyses of post-reproductive representation in mammals have claimed that only humans and some toothed whale species exhibit extended post-reproductive life, but there are suggestions of a post-reproductive stage for false killer whales and Asian elephants. Here, we investigate the presence of post-reproductive lifespan in Asian elephants using an extended demographic dataset collected from semi-captive timber elephants in Myanmar. Furthermore, we investigate the sensitivity of post-reproductive representation values to availability of long-term data over 50 years. Results We find support for the presence of an extended post-reproductive stage in Asian elephants, and that post-reproductive representation and its underlying demographic rates depend on the length of study period in a long-lived animal. Conclusions The extended post-reproductive lifespan is unlikely due to physiological reproductive cessation, and may instead be driven by mating preferences or condition-dependent fertility. Our results also show that it is crucial to revisit such population measures in long-lived species as more data is collected, and if the typical lifespan of the species exceeds the initial study period. Other/Unknown Material toothed whale University of Turku: UTUPub |
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University of Turku: UTUPub |
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Background The existence of extended post-reproductive lifespan is an evolutionary puzzle, and its taxonomic prevalence is debated. One way of measuring post-reproductive life is with post-reproductive representation, the proportion of adult years lived by females after cessation of reproduction. Analyses of post-reproductive representation in mammals have claimed that only humans and some toothed whale species exhibit extended post-reproductive life, but there are suggestions of a post-reproductive stage for false killer whales and Asian elephants. Here, we investigate the presence of post-reproductive lifespan in Asian elephants using an extended demographic dataset collected from semi-captive timber elephants in Myanmar. Furthermore, we investigate the sensitivity of post-reproductive representation values to availability of long-term data over 50 years. Results We find support for the presence of an extended post-reproductive stage in Asian elephants, and that post-reproductive representation and its underlying demographic rates depend on the length of study period in a long-lived animal. Conclusions The extended post-reproductive lifespan is unlikely due to physiological reproductive cessation, and may instead be driven by mating preferences or condition-dependent fertility. Our results also show that it is crucial to revisit such population measures in long-lived species as more data is collected, and if the typical lifespan of the species exceeds the initial study period. |
author2 |
ekologia ja evoluutiobiologia, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 2606402 |
author |
Lahdenperä M Chapman SN Jackson J Htut W Lummaa V |
spellingShingle |
Lahdenperä M Chapman SN Jackson J Htut W Lummaa V Asian elephants exhibit post-reproductive lifespans |
author_facet |
Lahdenperä M Chapman SN Jackson J Htut W Lummaa V |
author_sort |
Lahdenperä M |
title |
Asian elephants exhibit post-reproductive lifespans |
title_short |
Asian elephants exhibit post-reproductive lifespans |
title_full |
Asian elephants exhibit post-reproductive lifespans |
title_fullStr |
Asian elephants exhibit post-reproductive lifespans |
title_full_unstemmed |
Asian elephants exhibit post-reproductive lifespans |
title_sort |
asian elephants exhibit post-reproductive lifespans |
publisher |
BMC |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://www.utupub.fi/handle/10024/162855 |
genre |
toothed whale |
genre_facet |
toothed whale |
op_relation |
19 ARTN 193 10.1186/s12862-019-1513-1 BMC Evolutionary Biology 1 https://www.utupub.fi/handle/10024/162855 URN:NBN:fi-fe2021042821245 1471-2148 |
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1766218019358375936 |