Senescence–the progressive age-dependent decline in performance–occurs in most
organisms. There is considerable variation in the onset and rate of senescence between …

How can the stunning diversity of social systems and behaviours seen in nature be
explained? Drawing on social evolution theory, experimental evidence and studies …

Understanding individual‐level variation in response to the environment is fundamental to
understanding life‐history evolution and population dynamics. Telomeres, the protective …

Helping by group members is predicted to lead to delayed senescence by affecting the trade-
off between current reproduction and future survival for dominant breeders. Here we …

Several hypotheses have been put forward to explain the evolution of senescence. One of
the leading hypotheses, the disposable soma hypothesis, predicts a trade‐off, whereby early …

Early rearing conditions can have profound short-and long-term effects on survival and
reproduction of vertebrates. In cooperatively breeding birds, where variable social …

In many iteroparous species individual fitness components, such as reproductive output, first
increase with age and then decline during late-life. However, individuals differ greatly in …

Species with greater expression of fission-fusion dynamics show greater variability in the
size, composition, and cohesion of subgroups over time. This may allow their adjustment to …

In cooperatively breeding species, care provided by helpers may affect the dominant
breeders' investment trade‐offs between current and future reproduction. By negatively …

Abstract Knowledge of the temporal variation in reproductive success and its key driving
factors is crucial in predicting animal population persistence. Few studies have examined …