Science of Populations: Rates at which animals age may have less to do with sex differences (Research)

In human populations, women live longer than men. But what about animals? Maybe not so clear says newly-published research. Rather, in the wild, the rate at which animals age may have less to do with their sex than previously believed.

Learn more about the research featured on our Science blog and published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and led by Jean-François Lemaître, French National Centre for Scientific Research / Biometry and Evolutionary Biology laboratory (LBBE), University of Lyon, with co-author Species360 Director of Science, Prof. Dalia A. Conde, and others.

New research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) demonstrates that while mammalian females live longer than males, sex differences in aging rates are not detected. Next, researchers plan to use data on ex situ populations, such as that curated by Species360 Members using ZIMS, to study evolutionary drivers of sex differences in survival.

Next, researchers plan to tap species data contributed by Species360 member institutions to study differences between wild and ex situ populations. Because ex situ populations do not exhibit the same effects from the environment to wild populations, the study aims to unravel some of the evolutionary drivers of sex differences in survival.

Data on lifespan of ex situ populations is curated and shared by more than 1,200 Species360 member institutions in 99 countries using the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS).