Testing hypotheses of aging in long-lived painted turtles (Chrysemys picta)

Congdon, Justin D.; Nagle, Roy D.; Kinney, Owen M.; Sels, Richard C. van Loben; Quinter, Todd; Tinkle, Donald W.

doi:10.1016/s0531-5565(03)00106-2

Cited by 195 publications

(136 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

127

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…4). Our results differ from those for another C. picta population, which exhibits both overall low mortality and no differences in survivorship of old-versus middle-aged females (23). Although the survivorship curves of ref.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Decades of field data reveal that turtles senesce in the wild

Warner

Miller

Bronikowski

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Lifespan and aging rates vary considerably across taxa; thus, understanding the factors that lead to this variation is a primary goal in biology and has ramifications for understanding constraints and flexibility in human aging. Theory predicts that senescence-declining reproduction and increasing mortality with advancing age-evolves when selection against harmful mutations is weaker at old ages relative to young ages or when selection favors pleiotropic alleles with beneficial effects early in life despite late-life costs. However, in many long-lived ectotherms, selection is expected to remain strong at old ages because reproductive output typically increases with age, which may lead to the evolution of slow or even negligible senescence. We show that, contrary to current thinking, both reproduction and survival decline with adult age in the painted turtle, Chrysemys picta, based on data spanning >20 y from a wild population. Older females, despite relatively high reproductive output, produced eggs with reduced hatching success. Additionally, age-specific mark-recapture analyses revealed increasing mortality with advancing adult age. These findings of reproductive and mortality senescence challenge the contention that chelonians do not age and more generally provide evidence of reduced fitness at old ages in nonmammalian species that exhibit long chronological lifespans.aging | lifespan | painted turtle | reproduction | senescence W hy do some organisms show little to no signs of aging as they get older, whereas others exhibit substantial physiological deterioration and reproductive senescence with advancing age (1, 2)? This question has motivated many studies of aging in the wild, ranging from reviews of demographic aging (3, 4) to compilations of mechanistic studies (e.g., ref. 5 and references therein). Senescence should evolve when selection is weaker on deleterious traits expressed at an old age relative to those expressed at a young age (6). Indeed, mutations with senescent effects can persist because of a tradeoff between beneficial effects early in life and pleiotropic detrimental effects late in life (7,8). Importantly, the persistence of age-specific deleterious mutations will therefore be influenced by levels and sources of extrinsic mortality (e.g., predation, resource scarcity, infectious disease) and the particular ages at which extrinsic sources cause death (9, 10). For example, the onset of physiological or reproductive deterioration is expected to occur relatively early in populations exposed to high levels of extrinsic mortality of adults. Accordingly, such organisms are expected to evolve rapid development/growth, high reproductive effort at young ages, and a shortened lifespan. For species or populations that experience low extrinsic mortality rates, physiological and reproductive function are expected to decline more slowly with advancing age or with a delay in the onset of senescent decline (7). Moreover, such age-specific selection dynamics can result in negligible (11) and even negative ...

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Decades of field data reveal that turtles senesce in the wild

Warner

Miller

Bronikowski

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Such slow growth may be the trade-off for slower aging and stable or increased reproductive output in later life, as documented for fish (e.g. Atlantic cod, Olsen et al 2005; for a review see Pauly et al 2002) and for long-lived turtles (Congdon et al 2003). In both cases, older females increase reproductive output (egg production, clutch size or reproductive frequency) with age.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Physiological aging in the Icelandic population of the ocean quahog Arctica islandica

Strahl¹,

Philipp²,

Brey³

et al. 2007

Aquat. Biol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The ocean quahog Arctica islandica is one of the longest-living and slowest-growing marine bivalves. The oldest specimens obtained for the present study approached 200 yr. To achieve such a long lifespan, accumulation of oxidative damage markers in tissues must ideally be maintained at low levels over time, because the accumulating debris disturbs cellular functions. We investigated shell growth and cellular aging in an Icelandic population of A. islandica. Specifically, we analyzed protein carbonyl concentration as a marker for the oxidative deterioration of tissue proteins, and the accumulation of the fluorescent age pigment lipofuscin over quahog lifetime in gill, mantle and adductor muscle. The very slow growth rates of A. islandica correlate with very efficient maintenance of body proteins compared to other, faster aging bivalves. Lipofuscin granules accumulated mainly in connective tissues of gill and mantle. Lowest lipofuscin accumulation was found in the adductor muscle, and there, only outside the myofibrils. Consistent with the pleiotropic theory of aging, A. islandica seems to trade slow growth and late onset of reproduction for a very efficient autophagic potential that mitigates oxidative damage accumulation and supports long lifetime and presumably reproduction in very old ocean quahog.

show abstract

“…Indeterminately growing reptiles in general, and snakes in particular, are prime candidates for aging research (e.g., Kardong 1996;Congdon et al 2001Congdon et al , 2003Miller 2001). Snakes are underutilized models for studying the evolution of aging, in spite of the fact that a variety of remarkable characteristics recommend them as vertebrate animal models (Olsson and Shine 1996;Ujvari and Madsen 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many snake species exhibit increasing fecundity with advancing age, perhaps as a result of learning and experience, but more likely through a direct physiological effect of increased reproductive output with increasing body size (reviewed in Sparkman et al 2007). For all these reasons, and because of reported extreme longevities, reptiles are expected to yield insights into the evolution of senescence from the perspective of studying a taxonomic group that may not senesce (e.g., Congdon et al 2003;Lance 2003;Robert et al 2007). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution of aging phenotypes in snakes: a review and synthesis with new data

Bronikowski

2008

AGE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Reptiles are underutilized vertebrate models in the study of the evolution and persistence of senescence. Their unique physiology, indeterminate growth, and increasing fecundity across the adult female lifespan motivate the study of how physiology at the mechanistic level, life history at the organismal level, and natural selection at the evolutionary timescale define lifespan in this diverse taxonomic group. Reviewed here are, first, comparative results of cellular metabolic studies conducted across a range of colubrid snake species with variable lifespan. New results on the efficiency of DNA repair in these species are synthesized with the cellular studies. Second, detailed studies of the ecology, life history, and cellular physiology are reviewed for one colubrid species with either short or long lifespan (Thamnophis elegans). New results on the rate of telomere shortening with age in this species are synthesized with previous research. The comparative and intraspecific studies both yield results that species with longer lifespans have underlying cellular physiologies support the free-radical/repair mechanistic hypothesis for aging. As well, both underscore the importance of mortality environment for the evolution of aging rate.

show abstract

Testing hypotheses of aging in long-lived painted turtles (Chrysemys picta)

Cited by 195 publications

References 24 publications

Decades of field data reveal that turtles senesce in the wild

Decades of field data reveal that turtles senesce in the wild

Physiological aging in the Icelandic population of the ocean quahog Arctica islandica

The evolution of aging phenotypes in snakes: a review and synthesis with new data

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About