Asymmetric life-history trade-offs shape sex-biased longevity patterns

Abstract

Sex differences in ageing and lifespan are widespread across taxa, yet their evolutionary causes remain debated. A leading hypothesis suggests these differences are adaptive and driven by sex-specific life-history trade-offs, but formal theoretical support is lacking. To address this, we developed a mathematical model to investigate how such trade-offs shape lifespan evolution in a monogamous mating system. In the model, individuals evolve to optimise a trade-off between reproduction and survival - mediated by mating opportunities in males and offspring production in females. By systematically varying trade-off strengths, we show that either sex can evolve greater longevity, but male-biased longevity evolves under a broader set of conditions - consistent with patterns in monogamous species. This asymmetry arises because female longevity is more constrained: the trade-off between offspring production and survival directly affects the fertility of both sexes. In contrast, the male trade-off for mating opportunities has a weaker indirect effect on female fertility, allowing selection to more readily favour longer male lifespans. We also show that extrinsic density-dependent mortality can disproportionately affect the intrinsically longer-living sex, and obscure the magnitude of this evolved difference. Together, our results provide new theoretical insights into the adaptive bases of sex-biased longevity and highlight the importance of life-history trade-offs in shaping lifespan evolution.