research challenges. 2, 25

research trends. 1

Biology

benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration. 33-34

cellular processes of aging, 255-258

generalizability of species studies, 19

molecular processes of aging, 258-260

relevance to demographic research, 2

theories of aging, 96

See also Reproductive biology

Bio-reliability theory, 27-31

Birds, 76, 90, 259

Botryllus,257

Brain growth, 188

Bristlecone pine. 247

C

Caenorhabditis elegans. See Nematode worm studies

Calment, Jeanne, 14. 19, 24, 47, 250

Causes of death

demographic elimination, 53

endogenous/exogenous, 53, 60

in food-restricted rodents, 254

natural. 53

specificity among elderly, 9-10

U.S. mortality patterns. 54-55

Cellular processes

cell death, 255

Hayflick limit. 4, 255

life-history plasticity and, 255-258

vegetative propagation, 255-257

Ceratitis capitata. See Medfly studies

Cetaceans, 7, 131

aging, 143-144

elderly, 144-146

postreproductive survival, 163-164, 165, 212

social organization. 143, 165

taxonomy, 142-143

Chickens, 132

Child/infant mortality, 54

Cloning

of gerontogenes, 118-119

quantitative trait loci, 119

Coale-Demeny life tables. 49, 50, 213-215, 216

Collagen, 258-259

Complex systems

biological assumptions for modeling, 10

bio-reliability theory. 27-31

living organisms as, 27

mortality trajectory in. 29n. 29-30

theoretical relevance, 10

Compression-rectangularization hypothesis, 48-51. 60

Contributions of elderly. 131, 221-222

altruistic behavior. 130-131

among cetaceans, 144-146

among elephants. 136-137

among primates, 139-142

caregiving. 140, 145-146, 152-153, 164-165, 167-168. 197, 222

eusociality among wasps, 147-148

evolutionary theory. 152, 154

feeding ecology. 189

fitness of populations, 127, 152

gender issues, 154

as repositories of knowledge. 217-218

resource transfer. 169-170

social dominance and leadership. 131-132, 136, 140, 141-142

social role concepts. 154

support of reproduction, 188-189

teaching, 133, 137

territorial dominance. 133

See also Natural selection, role of elderly in

Creosote bush, 247

Cultural factors in mortality, 55

Cynolebias,252

D

Decreasing hazard function

in compression-rectangularization hypothesis, 49, 51

empirical evidence, 5-6, 17-18

genetic heterogeneity and, 6-7

research trends, 14

selectivity effects, 6-7

See also Mortality trajectory

Dementia, 250, 254-255

Demography

benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration, 33-34

classical theory of senescence, 69-71

future research, 14-15

goals of mortality research, 78

homeostatic process in, 10

notation of life tables, 39, 40

Front Matter (R1-R10)

1 Between Zeus and the Salmon: Introduction (1-16)

2 Trajectories of Mortality at Advanced Ages (17-37)

3 In Search of Limits (38-64)

4 The Evolution of Senescence (65-77)

5 Evolutionary Biology and Age-Related Mortality (78-95)

6 Toward an Evolutionary Demography (96-107)

7 Identification and Mapping of Genes Determining Longevity (108-126)

8 Population Biology of the Elderly (127-160)

9 Postreproductive Survival (161-174)

10 The Evolution of the Human Life Course (175-211)

11 Intergenerational Relations and the Elderly (212-233)

12 The Potential of Population Surveys for Genetic Studies (234-244)

13 Comparative Perspectives on Plasticity in Human Aging and Life Spans (245-268)

Glossary (269-274)

Index (275-285)