I always thought naked mole rats live long because they are eusocial
Well subterranean mole-rats in general (describing the shape, nothing else is in the same genus as NMRs) also live longer than mice and rats. I do think the eusociality plays a role too!
Another unique-ish thing about naked mole-rats, in addition to their high average lifespan, is that they don’t age (or don’t age much) in the demographic sense (ie their annual probability of dying is close to flat). I don’t think worker ants or bees work the same way though the data on this is scarce.
I am curious: What is the theory?
In addition to eusociality and the subterranean environment (=lower predators from a non-adaptive evolutionary perspective, = lower oxidation from a mechanistic/biological perspective), naked molerats’ rather unique form of queen selection may mean that living longer confers reproductive advantage, similar to lobsters.
So there’s an evolutionary incentive to live longer/having later-in-life deleterious mutations are costlier.
Since the NMR extrinsic mortality rate is low, the reproductive advantage conveyed from being slightly older doesn’t have to be as high as for other animals, in the standard nonadaptive framework.
Yeah, the low extrinsic mortality is definitely something NMR have going for them that ant workers don’t (queens do since they don’t leave the nest usually). Indian jumping ants also compete for being queen like NMRs, but they forage and leave the nest. There are definitely academics that think in detail what differences in extrinsic mortality risk predict for life-span. When I just asked Claude on that it apparently is actually more complicated than lower extrinsic mortality=slower rate of senescence? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Similarly, I am not sure if the low oxygen environment is actually that great for NMR longevity. As ChristianKi mentions your theory is going to be more interesting if you can look across species what it would predict or what your evolutionary theory predicts regarding mechanistic/biochemistry and genetic stuff in NMRs. As ChristianKi, I would not call myself an expert, but I might be somewhere on the Pareto frontier of having looked into aging, eusocial animals and naked mole rats. Not sure about relevant experts. Maybe check the people who wrote the textbook on naked mole rats? You would need some generalist that would know enough about these senescence models and about particular biology of naked mole rats and this expert might just not exist in 1 person.
Well subterranean mole-rats in general (describing the shape, nothing else is in the same genus as NMRs) also live longer than mice and rats. I do think the eusociality plays a role too!
Another unique-ish thing about naked mole-rats, in addition to their high average lifespan, is that they don’t age (or don’t age much) in the demographic sense (ie their annual probability of dying is close to flat). I don’t think worker ants or bees work the same way though the data on this is scarce.
In addition to eusociality and the subterranean environment (=lower predators from a non-adaptive evolutionary perspective, = lower oxidation from a mechanistic/biological perspective), naked molerats’ rather unique form of queen selection may mean that living longer confers reproductive advantage, similar to lobsters.
So there’s an evolutionary incentive to live longer/having later-in-life deleterious mutations are costlier.
Since the NMR extrinsic mortality rate is low, the reproductive advantage conveyed from being slightly older doesn’t have to be as high as for other animals, in the standard nonadaptive framework.
Can elaborate more if needed.
Yeah, the low extrinsic mortality is definitely something NMR have going for them that ant workers don’t (queens do since they don’t leave the nest usually). Indian jumping ants also compete for being queen like NMRs, but they forage and leave the nest. There are definitely academics that think in detail what differences in extrinsic mortality risk predict for life-span. When I just asked Claude on that it apparently is actually more complicated than lower extrinsic mortality=slower rate of senescence? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Similarly, I am not sure if the low oxygen environment is actually that great for NMR longevity. As ChristianKi mentions your theory is going to be more interesting if you can look across species what it would predict or what your evolutionary theory predicts regarding mechanistic/biochemistry and genetic stuff in NMRs. As ChristianKi, I would not call myself an expert, but I might be somewhere on the Pareto frontier of having looked into aging, eusocial animals and naked mole rats. Not sure about relevant experts. Maybe check the people who wrote the textbook on naked mole rats? You would need some generalist that would know enough about these senescence models and about particular biology of naked mole rats and this expert might just not exist in 1 person.