Less sex, more veggies can increase lifespan of reptiles

A new study has revealed that having less sex and eating more vegetables is the secret to longevity of lizards and snakes.

Tel Aviv University researchers found that reduced reproductive rates and a plant-rich diet increases the lifespan of reptiles.

The international team collected literature on 1,014 species of reptiles (including 672 lizards and 336 snakes), a representative sample of the approximately 10,000 known reptiles on the planet, and examined their life history parameters: body size, earliest age at first reproduction, body temperature, reproductive modes, litter or clutch size and frequency, geographic distribution, and diet.

The researchers found that, among other factors, early sexual maturation and a higher frequency of laying eggs or giving birth were associated with shortened longevity.

Prof. Shai Meiri said that reproduction, for example, comes at the price of great stress to the mother, as she experience physiological stress that she is unable to forage efficiently, which makes her more vulnerable to her surroundings and this reflects evolutionary logic.

Researchers found that reptiles that were sexually mature early on were less likely to make it to old age, he further added

The team also discovered that herbivores lizards with a plant-rich diet lived longer than similar-sized carnivores that ate mostly insects. Ingestion of a protein-rich diet seemed to lead to faster growth, earlier and more intense reproduction, and a shortened lifespan.

Herbivorous reptiles were thought to consume nutritionally poorer food, so they reached maturity later and therefore lived longer.

The researchers also mentioned that hunting may also be riskier than gathering fruits and leaves, at least for animals.

The researchers also found correlates that suggested reptiles in geographically colder regions lived longer, probably due to two factors- hibernation, which offers respite from predators, and slower movement due to a seasonal drop in metabolic rate.

Prof. Meiri concluded that results of a study on lizards can not be simply transferred to humans but this was the first study of its kind on reptiles, which does open up an avenue for further research on other factors that lead to longevity of these and other species.

The research is published in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography.