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Life histories

Be social, live longer

Nature volume 389, pages 906–907 (1997)Cite this article

One viewpoint stresses that there are basic cellular and mechanical limits to the body's ability to repair itself — for example, the lenses in our eyes deteriorate with age, and it would be difficult to change the repair schedule2. It seems hard to fault this view with regard to the basic question as to why ageing occurs at all. Ageing — an increase in the rate of mortality with age — is expected in species that undergo a division of cells between germ line and soma. Those lineages that skimp on repair mechanisms in favour of reproduction have outcompeted the lineages that have good repair mechanisms (which could maintain the individuals indefinitely). Although ageless multicellular organisms are known3, there are no immortal ones — even a potentially immortal sea anemone can be stepped on. So, ageing may be the price we pay for complexity.

Given that ageing occurs, how is its rate determined? Since the time of Alfred Russel Wallace, evolutionists have argued that longevity is as capable of evolving as other characteristics. The chief factors are the relationship between age and fecundity, and the risk of mortality. If mortality rates are high, then selection to maintain anatomical and metabolic function in older animals is weaker than if the mortality rates are low — because a smaller proportion of the population is old4,5. Indeed, in laboratory insect populations, longevity can be significantly increased by using the oldest individuals as parents for the next generation. Conversely, there is a considerable decrease in longevity if the youngest individuals are used as parents for the next generation.

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Figure 1: Living longer through social security — in their study of social insects, Keller and Genoud1 have shown that in colonies where one egg-laying queen predominates, she will have a long lifespan.

B. HÖLLDOBLER/THE ANTS, HUP

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  1. the School of Genetics, La Trobe University, Bundoora, 3083, Victoria, Australia

    Ross H. Crozier

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  1. Ross H. Crozier
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Crozier, R. Be social, live longer. Nature 389, 906–907 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/39996

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