Journal article
Life history, ecology and longevity in bats
Aging cell, v 1(2), pp 124-131
Dec 2002
PMID: 12882342
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
The evolutionary theory of aging predicts that life span should decrease in response to the amount of mortality caused by extrinsic sources. Using this prediction, we selected six life history and ecological factors to use in a comparative analysis of longevity among 64 bat species. On average, the maximum recorded life span of a bat is 3.5 times greater than a non-flying placental mammal of similar size. Records of individuals surviving more than 30 years in the wild now exist for five species. Univariate and multivariate analyses of species data, as well as of phylogenetically independent contrasts obtained using a supertree of Chiroptera, reveal that bat life span significantly increases with hibernation, body mass and occasional cave use, but decreases with reproductive rate and is not influenced by diet, colony size or the source of the record. These results are largely consistent with extrinsic mortality risk acting as a determinant of bat longevity. Nevertheless, the strong association between life span and both reproductive rate and hibernation also suggests that bat longevity is strongly influenced by seasonal allocation of non-renewable resources to reproduction. We speculate that hibernation may provide a natural example of caloric restriction, which is known to increase longevity in other mammals.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Life history, ecology and longevity in bats
- Creators
- Gerald S Wilkinson - University of Maryland, College ParkJason M SouthJason Munshi-South - Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES)
- Publication Details
- Aging cell, v 1(2), pp 124-131
- Number of pages
- 8
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES)
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000182895400008
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-0041733070
- Other Identifier
- 991021903954204721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Cell Biology
- Geriatrics & Gerontology