Living in communities could increase the maximum longevity of mammals

by time news

In nearly a thousand species, the trend is the same: group relationships would be favorable to longer lifespans thanks, perhaps, to immunity genes.

For a good ten years, studies have established that strong and friendly social relations would be favorable to increasing the life expectancy of humans. Surprisingly, it seems that group living is also linked to greater maximum longevity. This is demonstrated by an article published in Nature Communications on January 31 on nearly a thousand species of mammals (974 to be precise). Those who live in groups (Asian and African elephant, ring-tailed lemur, mountain zebra, etc., but also the man with the former doyenne of humanity, the Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment who lived a little more than 122 years) have a maximum longevity superior to that of mammals which are rather solitary.

The authors looked at a wide variety of species such as the snub-nosed monkey, the mole-rat, the bowhead whale or a species of bat with nasal growths in the shape of a horseshoe. (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum). Their results…

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