title: Reproduction, aging and mortality rate in social subterranean mole voles (Ellobius talpinus Pall.).
abstract: Eusocial subterranean rodents of the Bathyergidae family have enormous longevity. The long lifespan of these species is associated with negligible senescence, that is, an absence of the signs of age-related deterioration in physical condition. The question arises as to whether these features are unique to eusocial Bathyergids or typical of other social subterranean rodents as well. In the present study, we analysed data from observations of a social subterranean Microtinae rodent, the northern mole vole (Ellobius talpinus Pall.), which, like mole-rats, has reproductive skew. Among the individuals captured in the wild and maintained in captivity, females that reproduced lived significantly longer than non-breeding females. We did not find any changes in muscle strength with age in any of the demographic groups studied. Faecal glucocorticoid concentrations before death were significantly higher in non-breeding females than in breeding females and males. Increased adrenocortical activity may be one mechanism responsible for the decreased lifespan of non-reproducing individuals of social subterranean rodents. We conclude that the patterns of aging, although different in some respects, are generally common for social subterranean rodents of different taxonomic groups.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Frunze Street 11, Novosibirsk, 630091, Russia. eug_nov@ngs.ru.|Department of Ecology, Novosibirsk State Agrarian University, Dobrolubov Street, 160, Novosibirsk, 630039, Russia. eug_nov@ngs.ru.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Novikov
authors.affiliation: Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Frunze Street 11, Novosibirsk, 630091, Russia.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kondratyuk
authors.affiliation: Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Frunze Street 11, Novosibirsk, 630091, Russia.|Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Prospekt Lavrentyeva 10, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Petrovski
authors.affiliation: Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Frunze Street 11, Novosibirsk, 630091, Russia.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Titova
authors.affiliation: Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Frunze Street 11, Novosibirsk, 630091, Russia.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zadubrovskaya
authors.affiliation: Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Frunze Street 11, Novosibirsk, 630091, Russia.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zadubrovskiy
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Prospekt Lavrentyeva 10, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia.|Department of Vertebrate Zoology and Ecology, Tomsk State University, Prospekt Lenina 36, Tomsk, 634050, Russia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moshkin
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008971:Moles / Q000502:physiology*; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology*; D012919:Social Behavior
keywords: Aging; Longevity; Reproductive skew; Sociality; Subterranean rodents