2025-10-13 マックス・プランク研究所
Web要約 の発言:
An old (~44 years old), post-reproductive, female mountain gorilla in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda
© MPI-EVA/ Martha M Robbins
<関連情報>
- https://www.mpg.de/25548551/1014-evan-female-mountain-gorillas-stop-reproducing-long-before-the-end-of-their-lives-150495-x
- https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2510998122
野生のマウンテンゴリラの生殖後の寿命 Post-reproductive lifespan in wild mountain gorillas
Nikolaos Smit and Martha M. Robbins
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Published:October 13, 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2510998122
Abstract
Animals can typically maximize their fitness by reproducing throughout adulthood. Yet, in a handful of species, females cease reproduction long before death, highlighting an apparent evolutionary paradox. We used over three decades of life-history and behavioral data to examine the prevalence of postreproductive lifespan in wild mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei). Almost one third of females in our study population (7/25) have been “postreproductive” according to a commonly used criterion and have lived more than a decade past their age of last reproduction, representing at least a fourth of their adult lifespan. Additionally, using conservative estimates of female ages, we found a significant post-reproductive representation (a common population-level measure of post-reproductive lifespan) equal to 0.10. Our results add to observations of postreproductive lifespan in chimpanzees and humans and thus, they represent a critical addition to our understanding of hominid life-history evolution.
