Data from: Sex differences in senescence: the role of intra-sexual competition in early adulthood

Beirne, Christopher, University of Exeter

Delahay, Richard, University of Exeter

Young, Andrew, University of Exeter

Published Jun 11, 2015 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6q04p

Cite this dataset

Beirne, Christopher; Delahay, Richard; Young, Andrew (2015). Data from: Sex differences in senescence: the role of intra-sexual competition in early adulthood [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6q04p

Abstract

Males and females frequently differ in their rates of ageing, but the origins of these differences are poorly understood. Sex differences in senescence have been hypothesized to arise, because investment in intra-sexual reproductive competition entails costs to somatic maintenance, leaving the sex that experiences stronger reproductive competition showing higher rates of senescence. However, evidence that sex differences in senescence are attributable to downstream effects of the intensity of intra-sexual reproductive competition experienced during the lifetime remains elusive. Here, we show using a 35 year study of wild European badgers (Meles meles), that (i) males show higher body mass senescence rates than females and (ii) this sex difference is largely attributable to sex-specific downstream effects of the intensity of intra-sexual competition experienced during early adulthood. Our findings provide rare support for the view that somatic maintenance costs arising from intra-sexual competition can cause both individual variation and sex differences in senescence.

Usage notes

data1: Body mass data

Where; ID = Individual identity; CD = Date captured; MONTH = Month captured; YEAR = Year captured; YFC = Year in which an individual was first caught; WEIGHT = Weight (kg) at the focal capture event; AY = Age in decimal years; SEX = Sex; SOCG = Social group in which individual was captured at the focal capture event; LENGTH = individuals length (cm) at the focal capture event; NB.SOCG = Number of unique badgers caught within that social group within the current calendar year; DENSITY = Local density of unique badgers captured within the current calendar year; MALE.DENSITY = Local density of adult male badgers captured in the current calendar year; ELDE.ALL = Local density of unique badgers captured within the individuals first year of life; ELDE.CUBS = Local density of unique badger cubs captured within the individuals first year of life; DENS.ALL12 = Local density of unique badgers captured within the individuals first two years of adulthood; DENS.MALE12 = Local density of unique adult male badgers captured within the individuals first two years of adulthood; DENS.FEMALE12 = Local density of unique adult female badgers captured within the individuals first two years of adulthood; DENS.OR12 = Local sex ratio within the individuals first two years of adulthood; ALC = Age at which an individual was last captured; TERMINAL = binary variable denoting if individuals are in their last year of capture; MDISEASE = bTB status (1 = negative, 2 = exposed)

data1.txt

Location

Woodchester Park

Gloucestershire