The classic evolutionary theory of aging believes that aging and death are inevitable for organisms with clear boundaries between somatic cells and germ cells (1, 2). However, there are many reports/anecdotes of super long-lived creatures, such as various turtles that are over 150 years old (3, 4), which makes people wonder what the limit of life span is? Is it really possible to be "forever young"?
Long-lived turtles Report (4)
To this end, researchers from the University of Southern Denmark Fernando Colchero and Pennsylvania State University David A. W. Miller analyzed the survival status data of 52 species of turtles in the zoo with age and the temperature changes of 77 species obtained through mark-capture. Footage (including reptiles, amphibians, etc., including 14 species of turtles) survival data with age in the wild , modeling and analysis of the aging rate of these animals (aging rates) , that is, when the animal reaches adulthood ( After reaching reproductive age) mortality increases with age (5, 6).
Both studies found that the aging rate of some turtles and other reptiles was basically 0, which means that no increase in mortality with age was found in these animals as adults, thus challenged the classic aging evolution model. (5, 6).
The aging rate of many species of turtles is close to 0 (6)
The work of Fernando Colchero and others further analyzed the gender differences in life expectancy and aging rate among zoo turtles, and found that the gender with the smaller average weight usually has a longer life expectancy and a slower aging rate (6).
The work of David A. W. Miller and others further analyzed the factors associated with the aging rate of ectothermic tetrapods in the wild; the researchers mainly found that: 1. Controlling covariates such as body weight, ectotherms have greater interspecies differences in aging rates than endothermic animals ; The aging rate of reptiles tends to increase with the increase of habitat temperature (approximate body temperature) , while on the contrary, the aging rate of amphibians decreases with the increase of habitat temperature. 2. If you have physical protection (hard shell or armor) or chemical protection (venom, etc.), your life expectancy will be longer and your aging rate will be slower, especially physical protection. 3. People who are born early tend to age faster, and vice versa (5).
The aging rate of ectothermic animals is greater than that of homeothermic animals (5)
The above work was published in Science on June 23 (5, 6); the researchers believe that these works have expanded the species for aging research and provided important basic information. This will help further improve the aging evolution model . University of Southern California Caleb E. Finch and others who were not involved in these works believe that studying the mechanisms of long-lived species without obvious aging may provide new clues to alleviating human aging diseases; however, it should be noted that these studies in "late years" have a small sample size. The problem is that those species that seem to be "eternally young" will also experience a decline in performance and an increase in mortality in "old age"(7).
Comment(s):
With the development of tracking technology, tracking large-scale wild animals in protected areas can provide higher quality data, but this study involving life span requires monitoring for too long. . . Coupled with very accurate species age identification, monitoring time can be shortened.
Corresponding author introduction:
http://www.colchero.com/
https://www.appliedpopecol.org/people.html
References:
1. T. B. L. Kirkwood, R. Holliday, The evolution of aging and longevity. Proc. R Soc. London. Ser. B, Biol. Sci.205, 531–546 (1979).
2. T. B. L. Kirkwood, Evolution of ageing. Turtle? 5 Turtles that Survived for Centuries - AZ Animals, (available at https://a-z-animals.com/blog/how-old-is-the-worlds-oldest-turtle-5-turtles-that-survived-for -centuries/).
4. 250-Year-Old Tortoise Dies In India - CBS News, (available at https://www.cbsnews.com/news/250-year-old-tortoise-dies-in-india/) B. A. Reinke et al., Diverse aging rates in ectothermic tetrapods provide insights for the evolution of aging and longevity. Science (80-. ). 376, 1459–1466 (2022). , A. Baudisch, F. Colchero, Slow and negligible senescence among testudines challenges evolutionary theories of senescence. Science (80-. ). 376, 1466–1470 (2022).
7. K. Franklin, S. N. Austad, C. E. Finch, How Ubiquitous is aging in vertebrates? Science (80-. ). 376, 1384–1385 (2022).
Original link:
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abl7811
https://www.science. org/doi/10.1126/science.abm0151
