2023-05-15 ミシガン大学
◆ゴリラは他の種と同様に幼少期の逆境に直面するが、成長後には寿命が短くなることはないようだ。これは、人間の状況と比較して理解されるべきであり、非常に重要な知見を提供する可能性がある。ゴリラの強固な社会関係や豊かな環境が、彼らが逆境に対して比較的耐性を持つ理由かもしれない。
◆この研究結果は、早期経験の感受性の生物学的な根源と、ゴリラの強さに寄与する保護メカニズムについての重要な疑問を提起している。
<関連情報>
- https://news.umich.edu/most-species-including-humans-who-experience-early-life-adversity-suffer-as-adults-how-are-gorillas-different/
- https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822%2823%2900533-X
野生のゴリラにおいて、早期の累積的な逆境は成人の長寿の低下を予測しない Cumulative early-life adversity does not predict reduced adult longevity in wild gorillas
Robin E. Morrison,Winnie Eckardt,Tara S. Stoinski,Stacy Rosenbaum
Current Biology Published:May 15, 2023
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.051
Highlights
•Gorillas are exposed to a range of forms of adversity in early life
•Those exposed to more forms of adversity suffer greater mortality in early life
•But unlike many other species, they do not suffer greater mortality as adults
•Experiencing three or more adversities predicts lower adult mortality for males
Summary
Extensive research across fields has repeatedly confirmed that early-life adversity (ELA) is a major selective force for many taxa, in part via its ties to adult health and longevity.1,2,3 Negative effects of ELA on adult outcomes have been documented in a wide range of species, from fish to birds to humans.4We used 55 years of long-term data collected on 253 wild mountain gorillas to examine the effects of six putative sources of ELA on survival, both individually and cumulatively. Although cumulative ELA was associated with high mortality in early life, we found no evidence that it had detrimental consequences for survival later in life. Experiencing three or more forms of ELA was associated with greater longevity, with a 70% reduction in the risk of death across adulthood, driven specifically by greater longevity in males. Although this higher survival in later life is likely a consequence of sex-specific viability selection5during early life due to the immediate mortality consequences of adverse experiences, patterns in our data also suggest that gorillas have significant resilience to ELA. Our findings demonstrate that the detrimental consequences of ELA on later life survival are not universal, and indeed largely absent in one of humans’ closest living relatives. This raises important questions about the biological roots of sensitivity to early experiences and the protective mechanisms that contribute to resiliency in gorillas, which could be critical for understanding how best to encourage similar resiliency to early-life shocks in humans.
