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Longevity and life history coevolve with oxidative stress in birds
Author(s) -
Vágási Csongor I.,
Vincze Orsolya,
Pătraș Laura,
Osváth Gergely,
Pénzes Janka,
Haussmann Mark F.,
Barta Zoltán,
Pap Péter L.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
functional ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.272
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1365-2435
pISSN - 0269-8463
DOI - 10.1111/1365-2435.13228
Subject(s) - oxidative stress , longevity , biology , ageing , oxidative phosphorylation , oxidative damage , antioxidant capacity , antioxidant , zoology , ecology , genetics , biochemistry
The mechanisms that underpin the evolution of ageing and life histories remain elusive. Oxidative stress, which results in accumulated cellular damages, is one of the mechanisms suggested to play a role. In this paper, we set out to test the “oxidative stress theory of ageing” and the “oxidative stress hypothesis of life histories” using a comprehensive phylogenetic comparison based on an unprecedented dataset of oxidative physiology in 88 free‐living bird species. We show for the first time that bird species with longer lifespan have higher non‐enzymatic antioxidant capacity and suffer less oxidative damage to their lipids. We also found that bird species featuring a faster pace‐of‐life either have lower non‐enzymatic antioxidant capacity or are exposed to higher levels of oxidative damage, while adult annual mortality does not relate to oxidative state. These results reinforce the role of oxidative stress in the evolution of lifespan and also corroborate the role of oxidative state in the evolution of life histories among free‐living birds. A plain language summary is available for this article.