Asynchrony of actuarial and reproductive senescence: a lesson from an indeterminate grower

Abstract

Abstract Evolutionary theories relating to aging predict that patterns of actuarial and reproductive senescence should be aligned, with a common onset of senescence set at the age of first reproduction. However, a few empirical studies reported asynchrony between actuarial and reproductive senescence. This asynchrony is expected to be particularly pronounced in organisms with indeterminate growth. Yet, this process is still poorly documented due to the lack of long-term demographic data on known-aged individuals. We investigated the asynchrony of actuarial and reproductive senescence in the European whip snake, Hierophis viridiflavus, an oviparous colubrid with indeterminate growth. Using demographic data collected over a 29-year period, we showed that females did not experience any fecundity loss late in life. In contrast, they suffered from an early, severe actuarial senescence. Our findings thus revealed a pronounced asynchrony in actuarial and reproductive senescence processes, a phenomenon that could be widespread across the tree of life.