The long lives of primates and the ‘invariant rate of ageing’ hypothesis

• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23894-3
• Publication Date: 2021-06-16T10:03:04Z
• Authors: Fernando Colchero; José Manuel Aburto; Elizabeth A. Archie; Christophe Boesch; Thomas Breuer; Fernando A. Campos; Anthony Collins; Dalia A. Conde; Marina Cords; Catherine Crockford; Melissa Emery Tho...; Linda M. Fedigan; Claudia Fichtel; Milou Groenenberg; Catherine Hobaiter; Peter M. Kappeler; Richard R. Lawler; Rebecca J. Lewis; Zarin P. Machanda; Marie L. Manguette; Martin N. Muller; Craig Packer; Richard J. Parnell; Susan Perry; Anne E. Pusey; Martha M. Robbins; Robert M. Seyfarth; Joan B. Silk; Johanna Staerk; Tara S. Stoinski; Emma J. Stokes; Karen B. Strier; Shirley C. Strum; Jenny Tung; Francisco Villavi...; Roman M. Wittig; Richard W. Wrangham; Klaus Zuberbühler; James W. Vaupel; Susan C. Alberts
• Keywords: Healthy ageing

Is it possible to slow the rate of ageing, or do biological constraints limit its plasticity? We test 'invariant ageing' hypothesis, which posits that ageing is relatively fixed within species, with a collection 39 human and nonhuman primate datasets across seven genera. first recapitulate, in primates, highly regular relationship between life expectancy lifespan equality seen humans. next demonstrate variation genera orders magnitude smaller than pre-adult age-independent mortality. Finally, we changes but not other mortality parameters, produce striking, species-atypical patterns. Our results support invariant implying on how much can be slowed.