Sexually extravagant males age more rapidly

Preston, Brian T.; Jalme, Michel Saint; Hingrat, Yves; Lacroix, Frédéric; Sorci, Gabriele

doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01668.x

Cited by 98 publications

(138 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…This result supports recent evidence that secondary sexual traits show contrasted patterns of senescence across animal species (e.g. [35,45]). Moreover, it questions the long-standing idea that growing and carrying conspicuous sexual traits such as long and complex antlers is costly [46].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Early life expenditure in sexual competition is associated with increased reproductive senescence in male red deer

et al. 2014

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The evolutionary theories of senescence predict that investment in reproduction in early life should come at the cost of reduced somatic maintenance, and thus earlier or more rapid senescence. There is now growing support for such trade-offs in wild vertebrates, but these exclusively come from females. Here, we test this prediction in male red deer (Cervus elaphus) using detailed longitudinal data collected over a 40-year field study. We show that males which had larger harems and thereby allocated more resources to reproduction during early adulthood experienced higher rates of senescence in both harem size and rut duration. Males that carried antlers with more points during early life did not show more pronounced declines in reproductive traits in later life. Overall, we demonstrate that sexual competition shapes male reproductive senescence in wild red deer populations and provide rare empirical support for the disposable soma theory of ageing in males of polygynous vertebrate species.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Early life expenditure in sexual competition is associated with increased reproductive senescence in male red deer

et al. 2014

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“…Senescence in siring success may result from decreased ability of older males to attract mates, perform vigorous displays or defend against social challenges from younger males. Recent evidence of age-related declines in avian sperm quality suggests that declines in siring success may reflect decreased fertilization success rather than decreased success in attracting females [43,44]. Behavioural differences between alphas of different age categories may provide further insight into the causes of observed fecundity senescence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in annual and lifetime reproductive success of lance-tailed manakins: alpha experience mitigates effects of senescence on siring success

DuVal

2011

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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The causes of variation in individual reproductive success over a lifetime are not well understood. In long-lived vertebrates, reproductive output usually increases during early adulthood, but it is difficult to disentangle the roles of development and learning on this gain of reproductive success. Lekking lance-tailed manakins provide an opportunity to separate these processes, as the vast majority of male reproduction occurs after a bird obtains alpha status and maintains a display area in the lek, but the age at which males achieve alpha status varies widely. Using 11 years of longitudinal data on age, social status and genetic siring success, I assessed the factors influencing variation in siring success by individuals over their lifetimes. The data show increases in annual reproductive success with both age and alpha experience. At advanced ages, these gains were offset by senescence in fecundity. Individual ontogeny, rather than compositional change of the population, generated a nonlinear relationship of breeding tenure with lifetime success; age of assuming alpha status was unrelated to tenure as a breeder, or success in the alpha role. Importantly, these findings suggest that social experience can mitigate the negative effects of senescence in older breeders.

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“…senescence in sperm quality, secondary sexual traits or reproductive success), longitudinally is currently extremely difficult in wild populations of vertebrates. However, such studies could potentially bring further support for a decrease in residual late-life fitness following high early allocation to reproduction, as suggested by recent work in captive houbara bustards (Chlamydotis undulata) where males with a higher display rate during early life senesce faster in terms of sperm number and motility [57]. Moreover, analysing the relationships compiled in table 1 using a generalized mixed effect model reveals that the trade-off is found more often in males than in females (electronic supplementary material, table S6).…”

Section: (C) Late-life Traitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early-late life trade-offs and the evolution of ageing in the wild

et al. 2015

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Empirical evidence for declines in fitness components (survival and reproductive performance) with age has recently accumulated in wild populations, highlighting that the process of senescence is nearly ubiquitous in the living world. Senescence patterns are highly variable among species and current evolutionary theories of ageing propose that such variation can be accounted for by differences in allocation to growth and reproduction during early life. Here, we compiled 26 studies of free-ranging vertebrate populations that explicitly tested for a trade-off between performance in early and late life. Our review brings overall support for the presence of early-late life trade-offs, suggesting that the limitation of available resources leads individuals to trade somatic maintenance later in life for high allocation to reproduction early in life. We discuss our results in the light of two closely related theories of ageing-the disposable soma and the antagonistic pleiotropy theories-and propose that the principle of energy allocation roots the ageing process in the evolution of life-history strategies. Finally, we outline research topics that should be investigated in future studies, including the importance of natal environmental conditions in the study of trade-offs between early-and late-life performance and the evolution of sex-differences in ageing patterns.

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Sexually extravagant males age more rapidly

Cited by 98 publications

References 40 publications

Early life expenditure in sexual competition is associated with increased reproductive senescence in male red deer

Early life expenditure in sexual competition is associated with increased reproductive senescence in male red deer

Variation in annual and lifetime reproductive success of lance-tailed manakins: alpha experience mitigates effects of senescence on siring success

Early-late life trade-offs and the evolution of ageing in the wild

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