Aging is inevitable for mammals like humans. No matter how many vitamins you take, over time your skin will sag, your bones will soften, and your joints will become stiff. However, turtles and turtles age more gracefully. Despite the wrinkled skin and toothless gums, species like the Galapagos giant tortoise appear to be intact from aging. In the 100s, there are few signs of slowing down.
To determine what drives these timeless wonders, two groups of researchers published two studies in Science on Thursday, turtles, turtles, and their febrile or cold-blooded. I examined my brothers. Previous aging research has focused primarily on warm-blooded animals such as mammals and birds. However, external heat such as fish, reptiles and amphibians dominates the longevity record book. For example, a salamander called olms has slipped through underground caves for almost a century.Giant tortoises can live twice as long — a Seychelles turtle named Jonathan earlier this year Celebrated his 190th birthday..
of One of the new studies, Researchers have compiled a dataset of 77 species of wild reptiles and amphibians, including Komodo dragons, garter snakes, and frogs. Using decades of monitoring data, the team analyzed properties such as metabolism to determine their impact on aging and longevity.
Beth Reinke, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Northeastern Illinois and author of the new study, said: “It is only with this broad taxonomic approach that we can get to the heart of the question of how aging progresses.”
To live longer, you need a gentle aging curve. After most animals have sexually matured, much of their energy is devoted to reproduction at the expense of repairing aged tissue. This physical deterioration or aging often causes an increased risk of death as older animals become more susceptible to predators and illnesses. However, some cold-blooded animals experience little aging as they get older.
One theory is that warm-blooded animals have better equipment to manage aging wear because they regulate body temperature depending on the environment, rather than metabolism that consumes the energy of heat-absorbing or warm-blooded animals. It is that there is. But what Dr. Reinke and her colleagues found was more complicated. They found that some outside temperatures age much faster than endothermic processes of similar size, while others age much slower. The aging rates of lizards and snakes were scattered, but significantly lower in certain crocodiles, salamanders, and the mysterious tuatara. However, only turtles and turtles were barely aged.
The Other new research We delved deeper into these timeless turtle aging. Researchers have investigated the age-related decline of 52 species of turtles and turtles kept in zoos and aquariums. They found that 75% of species, including Aldabra giant tortoises and pancake tortoises, showed low or negligible aging. Some, such as the Greek tortoise and the Black Mars Turtle, have a negative aging rate, which means that the risk of death decreases with age. The aging rate of about 80% was slower than that of modern humans.
Turtles, the standard for anti-aging, make sense given their slow metabolism. Researchers have also linked a sturdy shell to longevity. Since herbivorous turtles and turtles live to devour vegetables (well, most of the time), a tight armor suit protects even the greasy Geezer.
These lethargic aging rates are not surprising given the spoiled life of captive turtles. However, unlike humans who age regardless of the fantasy of cryopreservation, captive turtles are ideal for zoos because reptiles can relax at ideal temperatures and enjoy a balanced diet of fruits and greens. It provides evidence that the environment can delay aging.
“We compared zoo populations to wild populations and found that populations under protected conditions could stop aging,” said a population biologist at the University of Southern Denmark in a turtle study. The author, Rita Da Silva, said. “For humans, our environment is getting better and better, but we still can’t stop aging.”
According to Caleb Finch, an old chemist at the University of Southern California who studies human aging, the risk of long-lived turtles and turtles dying has remained stagnant for decades, but eternal youth has been achieved. not. As in the elderly, eventually the turtles and their eyesight and heart are weakened.
“Some of them get cataracts and are weak enough to need to be given by hand,” said Dr. Finch, who was not involved in the new study. “They can’t survive in the real world, so there’s no doubt they’ll get older.”
These sluggish reptiles cannot surpass death, but may retain insights to extend lifespan and reduce age-related decline.
“If you continue to study the evolution of turtle aging, at some point you will find a clear link between turtles and human health and aging,” said Dr. Dasylva.
