Evolution of senescence


Cornitermes termite queen
photo: B. L. Thorne
http://www.chem.unep.ch/pops/termites/pics/pics.htm

Question for tutorial

How do rates of externally-imposed mortality influence the evolution of senescence?

Required readings

Keller, L. and M. Genoud. 1997. Extraordinary lifespans in ants: a test of evolutionary theories of aging. Nature 389: 958–960.
Link to download from Nature.

Additional, optional references

Hughes, K. A. & R. M. Reynolds. 2005. Evolutionary and mechanistic theories of aging. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 50: 421-445.

Kirkwood, T. B. and S. N. Austad. 2000. Why do we age? Nature 408: 233-238.

Reznick, D., Bryant, M., and Holmes D. 2006. The evolution of senescence and post-reproductive lifespan in guppies (Poecilia reticulata). PLoS Biology 4: e7.

Ricklefs, R. E. 1998. Evolutionary theories of aging: confirmation of a fundamental prediction, with implications for the genetic basis and evolution of life span. American Naturalist 152: 24-44.

Rose, M. R. 1991. Evolutionary biology of aging. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

Sgro, C. M. and Partridge, L. 1999. A delayed wave of death from reproduction in Drosophila. Science 286: 2521-2524

Stearns, S. C., Ackerman, M. Doebeli, and M. Kaiser. 2000. Experimental evolution of aging, growth, and reproduction in fruitflies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 97: 3309-3313.

 

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