Centre for Policy on Ageing



Evolutionary theories of aging — handle with care
Author(s)	Eric Le Bourg
Journal title	Gerontology, vol 44, no 6, November-December 1998
Pages	pp 345-347
Keywords	Biological ageing ; Longevity ; Theory.
Annotation	Evolutionary theories are considered by a growing number of gerontologists as providing a basis for understanding why ageing occurs. In such conditions, a risk could exist to favour evolutionary explanations rather than non-evolutionary ones, even when both equally fit the data. A recently published paper on longevity in ants is analysed, and a study of fertility and longevity in human beings is used to illustrate this risk. In the two cases, evolutionary and concurrent hypotheses may apply to the same data. When both kinds of explanations may be applied, the way to solve the problem is not to favour one explanation by relying on a priori preferences, particularly if the favoured hypothesis is still controversial. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-981118005 A
Classmark	BH: BGA: 4D
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