Figure 2
Female survival curves showing the predicted reproductive state of ten species of toothed whale. Females of three species: beluga whales, narwhals and short-finned pilot whale spend a significant proportion of their life post-reproductive. The age at which individuals become post-reproductive is defined based on the age at which 95% of population fecundity (measured as ovarian activity) has been completed. Green areas show when the females in the population are reproductively active, orange show when individuals are no longer reproductively active and therefore post-reproductive. The three curves represent different population change scenarios, the highest dashed curve represents a growing populating, the middle solid curve a static population and the lowest dashed curve a shrinking population (see methods for details). Physiological post-reproductive representation (Phys-PrR) is calculated based on age-specific ovarian activity, values denoted with an asterisk (*) are significantly different from 0, indicating that the species experiences post-reproductive lifespans.
