Adaptations to marine environments and the evolution of slow-paced life histories in endotherms

作者：Daniel Sol, Antón Prego, Laura Olivé, Meritxell Genovart, Daniel Oró, Antonio Hernández‐Matías · 发表于：Nature Communications · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1038/s41467-025-59273-5 · 被引用次数：10 · 研究领域：Marine and fisheries research、Marine and coastal plant biology、Isotope Analysis in Ecology

All organisms face a certain risk of dying before reproducing, putting strong pressure on individuals to reproduce as early as possible. Despite this, some organisms delay maturity, defer reproduction, and age slowly. The evolution of such slow-paced life is classically attributed to allometric effects and reduced extrinsic mortality, but might also result from the invasion of challenging environments requiring adaptations that boost adult survival yet impose substantial energetic and developmental costs. Here, we reveal that the invasion of marine environments by endotherms may have triggered adaptive shifts towards slow life histories, particularly in pelagic lineages. Such life history convergences may have been facilitated by the slow-paced nature of their non-marine ancestors, and were associated with adaptations for enhanced energy acquisition and storage, enabling a long reproductive lifespan at the expense of extended development. Ancestral traits and lifestyle changes might thus have been important in shaping the evolution of slow life histories. The evolution of a slow life history may be due to reduced extrinsic mortality and allometric effects. Here, the authors suggest that adaptations endotherms needed to return to marine life are associated with longer reproductive lifespans and delayed development, favouring a slow-paced life strategy.