Sex differences in senescence: the role of intra-sexual competition in early adulthood.
Sex differences in senescence: the role of intra-sexual competition in early adulthood.
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DOI：
10.1098/rspb.2015.1086
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发表时间：
2015-07-22
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Young A
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Beirne C;Delahay R;Young A
男性和女性的老龄化速度经常不同，但这些差异的根源却鲜为人知。衰老中的性别差异被假设为出现了，因为在性内生殖竞争方面的投资会带来躯体维持的成本，使经历更强生殖竞争的性别表现出更高的衰退率。然而，有证据表明，衰老中的性别差异可归因于一生中经历的性内生殖竞争强度的下游影响，这一证据仍然难以捉摸。在这里，我们利用对野生欧洲獾(Meles Meles)长达35年的研究表明，(I)雄性獾的体重衰减率高于雌性獾，(Ii)这种性别差异在很大程度上可归因于成年早期经历的性内竞争强度的性别差异的下游影响。我们的发现罕见地支持了这样一种观点，即性内竞争产生的躯体维持成本可以导致衰老中的个体差异和性别差异。
Males and females frequently differ in their rates of ageing, but the origins of these differences are poorly understood. Sex differences in senescence have been hypothesized to arise, because investment in intra-sexual reproductive competition entails costs to somatic maintenance, leaving the sex that experiences stronger reproductive competition showing higher rates of senescence. However, evidence that sex differences in senescence are attributable to downstream effects of the intensity of intra-sexual reproductive competition experienced during the lifetime remains elusive. Here, we show using a 35 year study of wild European badgers (Meles meles), that (i) males show higher body mass senescence rates than females and (ii) this sex difference is largely attributable to sex-specific downstream effects of the intensity of intra-sexual competition experienced during early adulthood. Our findings provide rare support for the view that somatic maintenance costs arising from intra-sexual competition can cause both individual variation and sex differences in senescence.