In (st) age-structured populations, the long-run population growth rate is negatively affected
by temporal variation in vital rates. In most cases, natural selection should minimize …

The field of comparative ageing biology has greatly expanded in the past 20 years.
Longitudinal studies of populations of reptiles with a range of maximum lifespans have …

Biodiversity loss is a major challenge. Over the past century, the average rate of vertebrate
extinction has been about 100-fold higher than the estimated background rate and …

Dietary restriction (DR) under laboratory conditions generally extends life span and delays
ageing across species as diverse as yeast, nematode worms, flies and mice, and is …

Senescence—the decline in age‐specific contribution to fitness with increasing age—has
been widely investigated in evolutionary ecology. A tremendous amount of detailed …

Demographic buffering and lability have been identified as adaptive strategies to optimise
fitness in a fluctuating environment. These are not mutually exclusive, however, we lack …

Senescence patterns are highly variable across the animal kingdom. However, while
empirical evidence of actuarial senescence in vertebrates is accumulating in the wild and …

Previous studies have demonstrated a correlation between longevity and brain size in a
variety of taxa. Little research has been devoted to understanding this link in parrots; yet …

Wild animals experience different challenges and opportunities as they mature, and this
variety of experiences can lead to different levels of welfare characterizing the day‐to‐day …

Variation in temperature is known to influence mortality patterns in ectotherms. Even though
a few experimental studies on model organisms have reported a positive relationship …