Senescence or selective disappearance? Age trajectories of body mass in wild and captive populations of a small-bodied primate.

ABSTRACT: Classic theories of ageing consider extrinsic mortality (EM) a major factor in shaping longevity and ageing, yet most studies of functional ageing focus on species with low EM. This bias may cause overestimation of the influence of senescent declines in performance over condition-dependent mortality on demographic processes across taxa. To simultaneously investigate the roles of functional senescence (FS) and intrinsic, extrinsic and condition-dependent mortality in a species with a high predation risk in nature, we compared age trajectories of body mass (BM) in wild and captive grey mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus) using longitudinal data (853 individuals followed through adulthood). We found evidence of non-random mortality in both settings. In captivity, the oldest animals showed senes

SUBMITTER: Hamalainen A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4132673 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature