Keller L, Genoud M
Institute of Ecology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Gerontology. 1999 Nov-Dec;45(6):336-8. doi: 10.1159/000022115.
In a Forum article Le Bourg (1998) criticized recent tests of evolutionary theories of aging and suggested alternative explanations for the long lifespan of ant queens and the positive relationship between body size and lifespan in mammals. Moreover, he attempts to criticize evolutionary theories of aging by showing that explanations other than evolutionary theories of aging probably account for the variation in human lifespan across countries.
Here we show that the arguments of Le Bourg suffer several problems. First, many of the arguments reveal a misunderstanding of the process of natural selection. Second, some of the arguments reflect a lack of knowledge of evolutionary theories of aging (e.g. pre-reproductive mortality is not predicted to influence lifespan of organisms contrary to what is claimed). Finally, his final example on lifespan in humans simply is a straw-man because serious evolutionary biologists are well aware of the importance of confounding variables and would certainly not make the type of conclusion suggested by Le Bourg.
Although a critical discussion of evolutionary theories of aging is welcome, we believe that the alternative explanations proposed by Le Bourg are implausible and reflect a misunderstanding of the process of natural selection.
在一篇论坛文章中，勒布尔格（1998年）批评了近期关于衰老进化理论的测试，并针对蚁后寿命长以及哺乳动物体型与寿命之间的正相关关系提出了其他解释。此外，他试图通过表明除衰老进化理论之外的其他解释可能说明了各国人类寿命的差异来批评衰老进化理论。
在此我们表明，勒布尔格的论点存在几个问题。首先，许多论点显示出对自然选择过程的误解。其次，一些论点反映出对衰老进化理论缺乏了解（例如，与所声称的相反，生殖前死亡率预计不会影响生物体的寿命）。最后，他关于人类寿命的最后一个例子纯粹是个稻草人，因为严肃的进化生物学家深知混杂变量的重要性，肯定不会得出勒布尔格所建议的那种结论。
尽管对衰老进化理论进行批判性讨论是受欢迎的，但我们认为勒布尔格提出的其他解释是不合理的，并且反映出对自然选择过程的误解。
