"Lucius Chiaraviglio"  wrote in
message news:pan.2003.08.28.04.25.13.245234{at}chapter.net...
> On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 03:00:05 +0000, dkomo wrote:
> > Tim Tyler wrote:
> >> William Morse  wrote:
> >> : My point (and the generally accepted theory)  is that
every organism
> >> : eventually succumbs to environmental stresses. Since
they do, evolution
> >> : cannot develop immortality genes because there is no
selection pressure
> >> : to do so.
> >>
> >> There might not be any genes that enable infinitely
long lives.
> >> However there are organisms which exhibit "negligible
senescence".
> >>
> >> Most famous are trees - e.g. bristlecone pines at 5,000
years or so.
> >>
> >> The oldest living thing is thought to be over 11,700
years old:
> >> [http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0601.htm#oldest]
> >>
> >> As far as we can tell such organisms don't age.  Their
chance of dying
> >> doesn't increase with age in a way that can be
measured.
> >>
> >> Effectively, they have their senescence issues cracked.
> >
> > Yes, and negligible senescence can't be explained by
Medawar's
> > Accumulated Mutations theory, nor by Williams'
Antagonistic Pleitropy
> > theory, nor by Kirkwood's Disposable Soma theory of
aging.
> >
> > The only thing that sensibly explains it is that aging
is a genetic
> > program.  These organisms have their timers set for very
long
> > lifetimes.
>
> Or they have no such timers, and have also been selected
to get rid
> of any gene alleles that mortgage future survival for
present
> reproduction.  This kind of selection could reasonably be
expected to
> occur in an environment in which an established adapted
organism has a
> good chance of continued individual survival at all times,
but a new
> individual has a poor chance of getting established.  I
don't know enough
> about the environments in which bristlecone pines and
creosote bushes live
> to say for sure, but it sounds like those particular
niches that these 2
> organisms occupy in their environments might fit that
description.

That does seem to make sense. And it seems it would also
cover those species where the wives eat their poor hubbys.
:)   ...tonyC

> --
> Lucius Chiaraviglio
> Approximate E-mail address:  luciusone{at}chapter.net
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>
>
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