Senescence in Wild Populations of Mammals and Birds

摘要: Publisher Summary This chapter reviews research undertaken to understand senescence in birds and mammals the wild. Increasing age-specific mortality adulthood is widely used as gold standard of senescence, both natural laboratory populations. Both reproductive survival can be difficult detect presence infectious disease. The relationship between disease complex. Decreased performance near very end life might easily reflect status per se. A potentially useful way envisioning demographic assess maintenance adaptive tradeoffs reproduction somatic they occur young adults. Senescence could seen well reduced ability provide nourishment offspring. Mammary glands themselves may senesce because a decreasing replicative capacity mammary epithelial cells with age. defend territory declines age number species. In small passerine birds, great tit, male size increases until 4 years then decreases from 5 throughout rest life.