> > In further support of your comments, I'd add that evolution may select for
> > short-lived individuals in order to speed up the process. By analogy, a
> species
Its more likely that evolution does not select for genes
that will slow aging if its likely that the
individual will die early for unrelated causes.
Metabolic rate is a reasonable first indicator for how
a particular species will live, but species with similar
metabolic rates age at different rates depending on their
survival chances.
The argument being that evolution will
select for longevity as soon as the individual is likely
to survive to a point where slower aging is worthwhile.
Its quite possible that our greatly reduced rate of aging
relative to chimpanzees is a direct result of our greatly
increased chances of survival (due to our smarts) allowing
anti-aging genes to be selected for.
best, patrick