Discovered a new way to live longer
Large families and strong social ties help primates live longer. This is found researchers from Exeter University, using information about thousands of rhesus monkeys in Puerto Rico, covering a period of 21 years. The result, according to experts, is applicable to humans.
Press release published on the website Phys.org.
As a measure of the number of social relationships in primates, biologists have taken a number of relatives of the individual.
It turned out that each family member decreased the probability of an animal dying in the next year of 2.3 percent.
This relationship, however, was not found in elderly females. Scientists believe that the reason for this are differences in the behavior of the old generation of young apes and monkeys.
So, the animals tend to be aggressive, to occupy a place in the group, and wish that other members of the team took care of them, for example, helped to get rid of parasites. Macaque-rhesus elderly were more selective in social relations, which reduced their number, despite having a large family.
Scientists believe that the results of the study will help to know how the ancient people coexist with each other, and does it affect their quality of life. Because social ties are conducive to longevity, evolution could thus contribute to the development of primitive societies.