Asynchrony of senescence among phenotypic traits in a wild mammal population.

ABSTRACT: The degree to which changes in lifespan are coupled to changes in senescence in different physiological systems and phenotypic traits is a central question in biogerontology. It is underpinned by deeper biological questions about whether or not senescence is a synchronised process, or whether levels of synchrony depend on species or environmental context. Understanding how natural selection shapes patterns of synchrony in senescence across physiological systems and phenotypic traits demands the longitudinal study of many phenotypes under natural conditions. Here, we examine the patterns of age-related variation in late adulthood in a wild population of Soay sheep (Ovis aries) that have been the subject of individual-based monitoring for thirty years. We examined twenty different phenotypic

SUBMITTER: Hayward AD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4661475 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature