Phylogenetic reconstruction of ancestral ageing rates in the primate lineage

Abstract Median lifespans of primates show nearly 10-fold variation, ranging from approximately 8 years in marmosets to approximately 80 years in humans. The molecular mechanisms that govern this variation and how they evolved remain poorly understood. Based on a decades-long multi-site curation effort, we have compiled lifespan data for 39 captive primate species, estimated their Gompertzian ageing parameters, and reconstructed ancestral ageing parameters for major primate clades. To address th