The reasons why cold-blooded animals tend to have long lifespans in relation to their size is the subject of a new study.
The most comprehensive study of longevity and aging has 114 different scientists looking at different wild populations. The data on animals' mode of temperature regulation, environmental temperature, distinctive characteristics and the pace of life was gathered and analyzed for decades.
Scientists wanted to find out how 26 of the 30 species that can survive past 100 years were able to do so.
There is a link between physical or chemical characteristics that protect species and slower aging. The physical characteristics of protected species were linked to a longer life.
These are known as protective phenotypes and can make a big difference.
There are various protective mechanisms that may reduce animals' mortality rates. They're more likely to live longer and that can change the selection landscape across generations.
Some species don't age at all, but their likelihood of dying doesn't change with age.
An animal with a one in 100 chance of dying at 10 and a one in 100 chance of dying at 90 is not old.
In the US, the chances are one in 2,500 and one in 24 for women of the same age.
At least one species of frog, salamander, lizards, crocodilians, and turtles were shown to be old.
The research didn't support the idea that cold-blooded animals rely on external temperatures to keep their body temperature constant. The team found that endotherms can live longer and shorter lives than similar-sized endotherms.
Birds and mammals have the same variation in aging rates. The only turtles studied where a lower metabolism was linked to slower aging and longer lifespan were slow aging turtles.
"It could be that their altered morphology with hard shells provides protection and has contributed to the evolution of their life histories, including negligible aging - or lack of demographic aging - and exceptional longevity," says Anne Bronikowski.
Data from animals that had been captured, tagged, released back into the wild and observed were compared with data from animals that hadn't been captured, tagged, released back into the wild and observed.
It's partly due to the breadth of time it covers that the research is likely to prove useful in the future, whether it's looking into patterns of aging in humans or trying to conserve animals.
The team wants to look at how soft shell turtles and hard shell turtles differ in terms of their age in order to better understand why.
The monogamy and host-parasite relations in sleepy lizards are found in longitudinal research.
The long-term datasets underpinning animal lifespans are important for reptile conservativism.
The research has appeared in a journal.
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