Bats that live long could be the key to mammal longevity
Researchers at the University of Maryland analyzed an evolution tree that was reconstructed using DNA from a majority of bat species known to date and discovered four bat lineages with extreme longevity. The researchers also identified for the first-time two features of bats’ life histories that are predictive of long life spans.
The researchers’ work was described in a paper published in the April 10th, 2019 issue of Biology Letters. They concluded that horseshoe, long-eared, and common vampire bats as well as at least one mouse-eared lineage all lived at least four time longer than similar-sized mammals. Researchers also discovered that the home range of a bat species can be predicted by its high latitude and males being larger than females.
Scientists are interested in finding closely-related species where one lives long and the other is short. This implies that some change has occurred recently to allow one species live longer, said Gerald Wilkinson. He is a UMD biology professor and lead author on the paper. This study presents multiple examples of closely related species that have varying lifespans, giving us the opportunity to compare and examine some underlying mechanisms which would allow some species live so long.
Source:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190410105649.htm
