Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, PO Box 105, Musanze, Rwanda; Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Department of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QG, UK.
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, PO Box 105, Musanze, Rwanda.
Curr Biol. 2023 Jun 5;33(11):2307-2314.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.051. Epub 2023 May 15.
Extensive research across fields has repeatedly confirmed that early-life adversity (ELA) is a major selective force for many taxa, in part via its ties to adult health and longevity. Negative effects of ELA on adult outcomes have been documented in a wide range of species, from fish to birds to humans. We used 55 years of long-term data collected on 253 wild mountain gorillas to examine the effects of six putative sources of ELA on survival, both individually and cumulatively. Although cumulative ELA was associated with high mortality in early life, we found no evidence that it had detrimental consequences for survival later in life. Experiencing three or more forms of ELA was associated with greater longevity, with a 70% reduction in the risk of death across adulthood, driven specifically by greater longevity in males. Although this higher survival in later life is likely a consequence of sex-specific viability selection during early life due to the immediate mortality consequences of adverse experiences, patterns in our data also suggest that gorillas have significant resilience to ELA. Our findings demonstrate that the detrimental consequences of ELA on later life survival are not universal, and indeed largely absent in one of humans' closest living relatives. This raises important questions about the biological roots of sensitivity to early experiences and the protective mechanisms that contribute to resiliency in gorillas, which could be critical for understanding how best to encourage similar resiliency to early-life shocks in humans.
广泛的跨领域研究一再证实,早期生活逆境(ELA)是许多生物类群的主要选择压力,部分原因是它与成年后的健康和寿命有关。ELA 对成年后结果的负面影响在从鱼类到鸟类再到人类的广泛物种中都有记录。我们使用了 55 年来对 253 只野生山地大猩猩收集的长期数据,来单独和累积地研究了 ELA 的六个潜在来源对生存的影响。尽管累积 ELA 与早期高死亡率有关,但我们没有证据表明它对后期生存有不利影响。经历三种或更多形式的 ELA 与长寿有关,成年期的死亡风险降低了 70%,这主要是由于雄性的寿命更长。尽管这种后期更高的存活率可能是由于早期生活中性别特异性的生存力选择导致的,因为不利经历的直接死亡后果,但我们的数据模式也表明,大猩猩对 ELA 有很大的适应能力。我们的研究结果表明,ELA 对后期生存的不利影响并非普遍存在,在人类最近的亲属之一中实际上基本不存在。这提出了一些关于对早期经历的敏感性的生物学根源以及对大猩猩的弹性有贡献的保护机制的重要问题,这对于理解如何鼓励人类在早期生活冲击中产生类似的弹性至关重要。