Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
Science. 2011 Mar 11;331(6022):1325-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1201571.
Human senescence patterns-late onset of mortality increase, slow mortality acceleration, and exceptional longevity-are often described as unique in the animal world. Using an individual-based data set from longitudinal studies of wild populations of seven primate species, we show that contrary to assumptions of human uniqueness, human senescence falls within the primate continuum of aging; the tendency for males to have shorter life spans and higher age-specific mortality than females throughout much of adulthood is a common feature in many, but not all, primates; and the aging profiles of primate species do not reflect phylogenetic position. These findings suggest that mortality patterns in primates are shaped by local selective forces rather than phylogenetic history.
人类衰老模式——死亡率增加的晚期发作、缓慢的死亡率加速和异常的长寿——通常被描述为动物界所特有的。利用来自对七种灵长类动物野生种群进行的纵向研究的个体基础数据集，我们表明，与人类独特性的假设相反，人类衰老属于灵长类动物衰老的连续体；在成年期的大部分时间里，雄性的寿命比雌性短，年龄特定死亡率比雌性高，这是许多灵长类动物的共同特征，但并非所有灵长类动物都有这种特征；灵长类动物的衰老模式并不反映系统发育位置。这些发现表明，灵长类动物的死亡率模式是由局部选择压力而不是系统发育历史塑造的。
