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ABSTRACT Senescence is the post-maturation decline in survivorship and fecundity that accompanies advancing age. Two main evolutionary theories have been proposed to account for senescence.

(1) The mutation-accumulation theory. Deleterious mutations exerting their effects only late in life would tend to accumulate, because of their minimal effects on fitness1,2. More precisely,

exclusively late-acting deleterious mutations will attain higher equilibrium frequencies under mutation–selection balance than will mutations that act early, resulting in lower mean values

for fitness components late in life (ref. 3, p. 218). Medawar1 emphasized the possibility that this effect would be enhanced by selection of modifiers that postpone the age of onset of

genetic diseases. (2) The pleiotropy theory. Williams4 suggested that many of the genes with beneficial effects on early fitness components have pleiotropic deleterious effects on late

fitness components, but are nevertheless favoured by natural selection. (These theories are based on the decline with age in the effect of age-specific fitness-component changes on total

fitness3 (ref. 3, pp. 206–214 and refs 4, 5). Either or both of these theories could apply in any particular population.) Selection experiments in _Drosophila_6 and _Tribolium_7 support the

pleiotropy theory, although one such experiment gave results that only bordered on significance8, but the mutation–accumulation theory has never been tested. The present results provide

evidence for the pleiotropy theory, but do not support the mutation–accumulation theory. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access

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Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS THE SELECTION FORCE WEAKENS WITH AGE BECAUSE AGEING EVOLVES

AND NOT VICE VERSA Article Open access 03 February 2022 INCLUSIVE FITNESS FORCES OF SELECTION IN AN AGE-STRUCTURED POPULATION Article Open access 05 September 2023 MOLECULAR EVOLUTION AND

THE DECLINE OF PURIFYING SELECTION WITH AGE Article Open access 11 May 2021 REFERENCES * Medawar, P. B. _An Unsolved Problem of Biology_ (Lewis, London, 1952); _The Uniqueness of the

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& Charlesworth, B. _Genetics_ (in the press). Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION Author notes * Michael Rose Present address: Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin,

Madison, Wisconsin, 53706 AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * School of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex, Palmer, Brighton, BN1 9QG, UK Michael Rose & Brian Charlesworth Authors *

Michael Rose View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Brian Charlesworth View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed 

Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Rose, M., Charlesworth, B. A test of evolutionary theories of senescence. _Nature_ 287,

141–142 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/287141a0 Download citation * Received: 08 February 1980 * Accepted: 20 June 1980 * Issue Date: 11 September 1980 * DOI:

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