A comparison of sex-specific senescence patterns in a long-lived marine mammal
The lifetime fitness of an individual is determined by the integrated results of survival and reproduction. Improving our understanding of variation in survival senescence within and between species will therefore provide greater insight into the evolution of different life history strategies. Surv...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2024.1488373/full |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1841527056957964288 |
|---|---|
| author | Kaitlin R. Macdonald Jay J. Rotella William A. Link |
| author_facet | Kaitlin R. Macdonald Jay J. Rotella William A. Link |
| author_sort | Kaitlin R. Macdonald |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The lifetime fitness of an individual is determined by the integrated results of survival and reproduction. Improving our understanding of variation in survival senescence within and between species will therefore provide greater insight into the evolution of different life history strategies. Survival is influenced by multiple factors, consequently, variation in patterns of senescence is expected between individuals and sexes and across mating systems and the continuum of life history strategies. To date there is little consensus regarding the mechanisms driving the evolution of sex differences in actuarial senescence, necessitating the need for studies of sex-specific senescence for species across a wide range of life histories. The Weddell seal is a species of long-lived mammal that displays moderate polygyny and little sexual size dimorphism, which makes it an unusual species compared to other long-lived mammals that share the polygynous mating system. Here we used 37 years of data for 1,879 female and 1,474 male Weddell seals from Erebus Bay, Antarctica, to estimate and compare sex-specific patterns of survival rates using basis splines which allow flexible modeling of age-specific patterns. We found that males had lower rates of survival throughout life and higher rates of actuarial senescence after early adulthood compared to females. These results add to our understanding of sex-specific survival rates in the species and contribute information for a long-lived, polygynous species that should aid in achieving a broader understanding of aging between sexes and across the tree of life. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cbec8433fbc84980901ad8e0814c6bb4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2296-701X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-cbec8433fbc84980901ad8e0814c6bb42025-01-16T06:10:17ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution2296-701X2025-01-011210.3389/fevo.2024.14883731488373A comparison of sex-specific senescence patterns in a long-lived marine mammalKaitlin R. Macdonald0Jay J. Rotella1William A. Link2Ecology Department, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, United StatesEcology Department, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, United StatesU.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD, United StatesThe lifetime fitness of an individual is determined by the integrated results of survival and reproduction. Improving our understanding of variation in survival senescence within and between species will therefore provide greater insight into the evolution of different life history strategies. Survival is influenced by multiple factors, consequently, variation in patterns of senescence is expected between individuals and sexes and across mating systems and the continuum of life history strategies. To date there is little consensus regarding the mechanisms driving the evolution of sex differences in actuarial senescence, necessitating the need for studies of sex-specific senescence for species across a wide range of life histories. The Weddell seal is a species of long-lived mammal that displays moderate polygyny and little sexual size dimorphism, which makes it an unusual species compared to other long-lived mammals that share the polygynous mating system. Here we used 37 years of data for 1,879 female and 1,474 male Weddell seals from Erebus Bay, Antarctica, to estimate and compare sex-specific patterns of survival rates using basis splines which allow flexible modeling of age-specific patterns. We found that males had lower rates of survival throughout life and higher rates of actuarial senescence after early adulthood compared to females. These results add to our understanding of sex-specific survival rates in the species and contribute information for a long-lived, polygynous species that should aid in achieving a broader understanding of aging between sexes and across the tree of life.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2024.1488373/fullactuarial senescencesex-specific survivallife historyWeddell sealmark-recapture |
| spellingShingle | Kaitlin R. Macdonald Jay J. Rotella William A. Link A comparison of sex-specific senescence patterns in a long-lived marine mammal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution actuarial senescence sex-specific survival life history Weddell seal mark-recapture |
| title | A comparison of sex-specific senescence patterns in a long-lived marine mammal |
| title_full | A comparison of sex-specific senescence patterns in a long-lived marine mammal |
| title_fullStr | A comparison of sex-specific senescence patterns in a long-lived marine mammal |
| title_full_unstemmed | A comparison of sex-specific senescence patterns in a long-lived marine mammal |
| title_short | A comparison of sex-specific senescence patterns in a long-lived marine mammal |
| title_sort | comparison of sex specific senescence patterns in a long lived marine mammal |
| topic | actuarial senescence sex-specific survival life history Weddell seal mark-recapture |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2024.1488373/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kaitlinrmacdonald acomparisonofsexspecificsenescencepatternsinalonglivedmarinemammal AT jayjrotella acomparisonofsexspecificsenescencepatternsinalonglivedmarinemammal AT williamalink acomparisonofsexspecificsenescencepatternsinalonglivedmarinemammal AT kaitlinrmacdonald comparisonofsexspecificsenescencepatternsinalonglivedmarinemammal AT jayjrotella comparisonofsexspecificsenescencepatternsinalonglivedmarinemammal AT williamalink comparisonofsexspecificsenescencepatternsinalonglivedmarinemammal |