Evolution Of Life-history Strategies Research Articles

Life history strategies predict responses of lacustrine fish communities to eutrophication

The demographic traits of an organism are key components of its fitness and life history theory aims at identifying the environmental drivers underlying the evolution of life history strategies. For fishes, the equilibrium species, those investing into larval survival (large eggs, parental care) rather than into absolute fecundity, are hypothesized to have evolved in stable and predictable environments with high biotic pressure. Human induced nutrient enrichment in many lakes around the world makes them increasingly subjected to perturbations such as anoxia and toxic algal blooms. We hypothesized that eutrophication results in lakes becoming more unstable, unpredictable and less resource-limited, in turn less favorable to equilibrium species. Another hypothesis states that lacustrine environment stability increases with ecosystem size. This study presents the first attempt to compare the two hypotheses in a group of 26 lakes. We found that the population abundance of equilibrium species was negatively related to increasing eutrophication. Long-lived and highly fecund periodic species responded more positively to eutrophication than short lived opportunistic species, with no parental care. This result could be demonstrated by seasonality in primary productivity which favors periodic species, disconnection from the river which prevents good colonist (i.e., opportunistic) species to (re)-establish after perturbation events, and predation by periodic species on opportunistic species. In contrast, we found no support for the ecosystem size hypothesis. Overall, we showed that human driven eutrophication affected species according to their life history strategies, reinforcing the usefulness of life history theory as a framework for assessing fish community response to a large array of human perturbations. More generally, our study emphasizes the importance of species traits to assess, explain, and predict community responses to human and natural perturbations.

Host community-wide patterns of post-fledging behavior and survival of obligate brood parasitic brown-headed cowbirds.

The antagonistic arms races between obligate brood parasites and their hosts provide critical insights into coevolutionary processes and constraints on the evolution of life history strategies. In avian brood parasites-a model system for examining host-parasite dynamics-research has primarily focused on the egg and nestling stage, while far less is known about the behavior and ecology of fledgling and juvenile brood parasites. To provide greater insights into the post-fledging period of generalist brood parasites, we used handheld and automated telemetry systems to examine the behavior and survival of fledgling brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater). Our host community-wide analysis (data on cowbirds fledged from different host species were pooled) shows that fledgling cowbirds' follow patterns of movement and survival found across the post-fledging literature on parental passerine species. Cowbird fledgling survival was lowest during the first 3days post-fledging, whereas daily rates of survival neared 100% after about 16days post-fledging. Cowbird daytime post-fledging activity rates, perch heights, and distance from the natal area all increased with fledging age and young generally gained independence from host parents at 3-4weeks post-fledging, with approximately the same latency as has been observed in studies on fledglings of cowbird host species. Our research demonstrates how automated telemetry systems can overcome past methodological limitations in post-fledging research and provides an important foundation for future studies examining adaptations that cowbirds and other brood parasites use to exploit hosts during the post-fledging period.

Mitogenomic data elucidate the phylogeny and evolution of life strategies in Dermestidae (Coleoptera)

AbstractDermestidae (Bostrichoidea) exploit diverse food sources including fungal mycelia, but notably they as saprophagous, feeding on decomposing and dried flesh and keratin of animals and plants. Some of them live in spider webs, vertebrate and social insect nests, while others cause damage in human dwellings. Here, we use mitogenomics to reconstruct their phylogeny and evolution of life history strategies. We recovered serial splits of Orphilinae, Thorictinae + Dermestinae, Attageninae, Trinodinae and Megatominae, and we dated the origins of all subfamilies between the Middle Jurassic and Upper Cretaceous. Extant genera started their diversification in the Middle Cretaceous, except for Dermestes that originated in the Eocene. Mycetophagy, the likely feeding style of the common ancestor with Endecatomidae, was retained only by Orphilinae. Since the Late Jurassic, most dermestids have been saprophagous with the preference for desiccated tissue. We infer a scenario of feeding preferences from mycetophagy moving to saprophagy, always depending on food with low water content, followed by the shift from cryptic life in crevices and wood, to commensalism with social Hymenoptera, and ultimately feeding on angiosperm pollen as adults. The dependence on spider larders evolved already in the Early Cretaceous, but lineages with this specialized strategy remained species‐poor. We date the origin of exploitation of vertebrate carcasses to the Eocene when modern mammalian fauna became dominant. The diversification of Megatominae (62% of known dermestids) and Attagenus Latreille (17%) coincides with the radiation of angiosperms.

Functional Traits in Lichen Ecology: A Review of Challenge and Opportunity.

Community ecology has experienced a major transition, from a focus on patterns in taxonomic composition, to revealing the processes underlying community assembly through the analysis of species functional traits. The power of the functional trait approach is its generality, predictive capacity such as with respect to environmental change, and, through linkage of response and effect traits, the synthesis of community assembly with ecosystem function and services. Lichens are a potentially rich source of information about how traits govern community structure and function, thereby creating opportunity to better integrate lichens into ‘mainstream’ ecological studies, while lichen ecology and conservation can also benefit from using the trait approach as an investigative tool. This paper brings together a range of author perspectives to review the use of traits in lichenology, particularly with respect to European ecosystems from the Mediterranean to the Arctic-Alpine. It emphasizes the types of traits that lichenologists have used in their studies, both response and effect, the bundling of traits towards the evolution of life-history strategies, and the critical importance of scale (both spatial and temporal) in functional trait ecology.

How the concavity of reproduction/survival trade-offs impacts the evolution of life history strategies

ABSTRACT Previous works using different mathematical techniques, however, show that the concavity of the trade-off relationship can alter the expected life history strategies. Thus we developed a model and found that the concavity of the reproduction–survival curve can still have a large impact on life history strategies in an ecological model with Darwinian evolution.

Phylogenomics of Ichneumonoidea (Hymenoptera) and implications for evolution of mode of parasitism and viral endogenization

Ichneumonoidea is one of the most diverse lineages of animals on the planet with >48,000 described species and many more undescribed. Parasitoid wasps of this superfamily are mostly beneficial insects that attack and kill other arthropods and are important for understanding diversification and the evolution of life history strategies related to parasitoidism. Further, some lineages of parasitoids within Ichneumonoidea have acquired endogenous virus elements (EVEs) that are permanently a part of the wasp’s genome and benefit the wasp through host immune disruption and behavioral control. Unfortunately, understanding the evolution of viral acquisition, parasitism strategies, diversification, and host immune disruption mechanisms, is deeply limited by the lack of a robust phylogenetic framework for Ichneumonoidea. Here we design probes targeting 541 genes across 91 taxa to test phylogenetic relationships, the evolution of parasitoid strategies, and the utility of probes to capture polydnavirus genes across a diverse array of taxa. Phylogenetic relationships among Ichneumonoidea were largely well resolved with most higher-level relationships maximally supported. We noted codon use biases between the outgroups, Braconidae, and Ichneumonidae and within Pimplinae, which were largely solved through analyses of amino acids rather than nucleotide data. These biases may impact phylogenetic reconstruction and caution for outgroup selection is recommended. Ancestral state reconstructions were variable for Braconidae across analyses, but consistent for reconstruction of idiobiosis/koinobiosis in Ichneumonidae. The data suggest many transitions between parasitoid life history traits across the whole superfamily. The two subfamilies within Ichneumonidae that have polydnaviruses are supported as distantly related, providing strong evidence for two independent acquisitions of ichnoviruses. Polydnavirus capture using our designed probes was only partially successful and suggests that more targeted approaches would be needed for this strategy to be effective for surveying taxa for these viral genes. In total, these data provide a robust framework for the evolution of Ichneumonoidea.

Late-life reproduction in an insect: Terminal investment, reproductive restraint or senescence.

The terminal investment, reproductive restraint or senescence theories may explain individual late-life patterns of reproduction. The terminal investment hypothesis predicts that individuals increase reproductive allocation late in life as prospects for future survival decrease. The other two hypotheses predict reduced reproduction late in life, but for different reasons. Under the Reproductive Restraint hypothesis, individuals restrain their reproductive effort to sustain future survival and gain more time for reproducing, whereas under the Senescence process, reproduction is constrained because of somatic deterioration. While these hypotheses imply that reproduction is costly, they should have contrasted implications in terms of survival after late reproduction and somatic maintenance. Testing these hypotheses requires proper consideration of the effects of age-dependent reproductive effort on post-reproduction survival and age-related somatic functions. We experimentally tested these three hypotheses in females of the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, an iteroparous and income breeder insect. We manipulated their age-specific allocation into reproduction and observed the effects of this manipulation on their late-life fecundity, post-reproduction survival and immunocompetence as a measurement of somatic protection. We found that females exhibit age-related decline in fecundity and that this reproductive senescence is accelerated by a cost of early reproduction. The cost of reproduction had no significant effect on female longevity and their ability to survive a bacterial infection, despite that some immune cells were depleted by reproduction. We found that female post-infection survival deteriorated with age, which could be partly explained by a decline in some immune parameters. Importantly, females did not increase their reproductive effort late in life at the expense of their late-life post-reproduction survival. Late-life reproduction in T. molitor females is senescing and not consistent with a terminal investment strategy. Rather, our results suggest that females allocate resources according to a priority scheme favouring longevity at the expense of reproduction, which is in line with the reproductive restraint hypothesis. Such a priority scheme also shows that a relatively short-lived insect can evolve life-history strategies hitherto known only in long-lived animals. This puts in perspective the role of longevity in the evolution of life-history strategies.

Life history, dormancy regulation, reproductive physiology and basic behaviour of the subtropical fruit flyRhagoletotrypeta pastranai(Diptera:Tephritidae)

With the purpose of broadening knowledge on the evolution of life history strategies and behaviour of fruit flies within the tribe Carpomyini, the natural history and mating behaviour of the poorly known species Rhagoletotrypeta pastranai Aczél, are described for the first time. Larvae of R. pastranai were recovered from infested Celtis tala Gillies ex Planch and Celtis iguanaea (Jacq.) Sarg. during a 2-month fruiting period. Adults emerged from the recovered pupae after an average of 144.9 ± 3.9 days for females and 143.2 ± 3.38 days for males, suggesting that most individuals became dormant. Results of a variable winter length study suggested that environmental factors other than winter length may regulate dormancy/diapause duration in this subtropical species. Under laboratory conditions, R. pastranai adults lived an average of 51.13 ± 3.06 days in case of females and 48.08 ± 3.76 days in case of males, and required 5-15 days to reach sexual maturity. Behavioural observations under confinement revealed scarce sexual activity but sufficed to determine that, as in other members of the tribe Carpomyini, R. pastranai exhibits a male resource defence mating system. We discuss our findings emphasizing the importance of documenting the natural history and behaviour of unknown species of family Tephritidae and additionally, we highlight the necessity of future research to understand factors regulating dormancy/diapause and the evolution of life history strategies and sexual behaviour of subtropical species.

Comparative phylogenomics reveal complex evolution of life history strategies in a clade of bivalves with parasitic larvae (Bivalvia: Unionoida: Ambleminae).

Freshwater mussels are a species-rich group with biodiversity patterns strongly shaped by a life history strategy that includes an obligate parasitic larval stage. In this study, we set out to reconstruct the life history evolution and systematics in a clade of freshwater mussels adapted to parasitizing a molluscivorous host fish. Anchored hybrid enrichment and ancestral character reconstruction revealed a complex pattern of life history evolution with host switching and multiple instances of convergence, including reduction in size of larvae, increased fecundity, and growth during encapsulation. Our phylogenomic analyses also recovered non-monophyly of taxa exhibiting multiple traits used as the basis for previous taxonomic hypotheses. Taxa with axe-head shaped glochidia were resolved as paraphyletic, but our results strongly suggest the complex morphology is an adaptation to reduce larval size, with reduction in size further accentuated in taxa previously assigned to Leptodea. To more accurately reflect the evolutionary history of this group, we make multiple systematic changes, including the description of a new genus, Atlanticoncha gen. nov., and the synonymy of the genus Leptodea under Potamilus. Our findings contribute to the growing body of literature showing that cladistic hypotheses based solely on morphological characters, including larval morphology, can be flawed in freshwater mussels.

Within-host competition drives energy allocation trade-offs in an insect parasitoid.

Organismal body size is an important biological trait that has broad impacts across scales of biological organization, from cells to ecosystems. Size is also deeply embedded in life history theory, as the size of an individual is one factor that governs the amount of available resources an individual is able to allocate to different structures and systems. A large body of work examining resource allocation across body sizes (allometry) has demonstrated patterns of allocation to different organismal systems and morphologies, and extrapolated rules governing biological structure and organization. However, the full scope of evolutionary and ecological ramifications of these patterns have yet to be realized. Here, we show that density-dependent larval competition in a natural population of insect parasitoids (Drino rhoeo: Tachinidae) results in a wide range of body sizes (largest flies are more than six times larger (by mass) than the smallest flies). We describe strong patterns of trade-offs between different body structures linked to dispersal and reproduction that point to life history strategies that differ between both males and females and individuals of different sizes. By better understanding the mechanisms that generate natural variation in body size and subsequent effects on the evolution of life history strategies, we gain better insight into the evolutionary and ecological impacts of insect parasitoids in tri-trophic systems.

A transposable element insertion is associated with an\xa0alternative life history strategy

Tradeoffs affect resource allocation during development and result in fitness consequences that drive the evolution of life history strategies. Yet despite their importance, we know little about the mechanisms underlying life history tradeoffs. Many species of Colias butterflies exhibit an alternative life history strategy (ALHS) where females divert resources from wing pigment synthesis to reproductive and somatic development. Due to this reallocation, a wing color polymorphism is associated with the ALHS: either yellow/orange or white. Here we map the locus associated with this ALHS in Colias crocea to a transposable element insertion located downstream of the Colias homolog of BarH-1, a homeobox transcription factor. Using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, antibody staining, and electron microscopy we find white-specific expression of BarH-1 suppresses the formation of pigment granules in wing scales and gives rise to white wing color. Lipid and transcriptome analyses reveal physiological differences associated with the ALHS. Together, these findings characterize a mechanism for a female-limited ALHS.

Adaptive evolution of life history strategies related to maturation time in seasonal environment

Maturation time plays an important role on life history evolution because of its great influence on reproduction and body size. To study the optimal life history strategy determined by maturation time in detail, a competitive mathematical model with two populations in a seasonal environment is established and analyzed. Firstly, the dynamic behaviors of the population model are investigated by stability analysis and using the theory of monotone dynamical systems. There are four possible dynamic outcomes of the competition model namely extinction, competitive exclusion, competitive coexistence and bistability. Further, the influences of seasonality on the competition results are discussed. Secondly, the evolution of maturation time is studied via adaptive dynamics theory. Evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) of maturation time is shown to be local and also convergent stable strategy (CSS). And the results reveal that the ESS is different from the strategy of maximum fitness of invasive population. Finally, by using numerical simulations, it is shown that seasonality has an important influence on the mature strategy. The ESS will decrease with production season length elongating along the direction of growth rate declining, and it would not cross the maximum fitness strategy.

Evolution of age at primiparity in pinnipeds in the absence of the quality-quantity trade-off in reproduction.

Age at primiparity (AP) is a key life history trait which is crucial to the evolution of life history strategies. This trait is particularly interesting in pinnipeds (walrus, eared seals, and true seals), which are monotocous animals. Thus, the commonly observed trade‐off between offspring quality and quantity does not apply to this taxon. Therefore, comparative studies on the evolution of AP might shed light on other important evolutionary correlates when litter size is fixed. Using phylogenetic generalized least squares analyses, we found a strong negative and robust correlation between relative birth mass (mean pup birth mass as a proportion of mean adult female mass) and AP. Rather than trading‐off an early start of reproduction with light relative offspring mass, this result suggests that pinnipeds exhibit either faster (i.e., higher relative offspring mass leading to shorter lactation length, and thus shorter interbirth interval) or slower life histories and that an early AP and a heavy relative offspring mass co‐evolved into a comparatively fast life history strategy. On the other hand, AP was positively related to lactation length: A later start of reproduction was associated with a longer lactation length. Consequently, variation in AP in pinnipeds seems to be affected by an interplay between costs and benefits of early reproduction mediated by relative investment into the single offspring via relative birth mass and lactation length.

Variability in life-history switch points across and within populations explained by Adaptive Dynamics.

Understanding the factors that shape the timing of life-history switch points (SPs; e.g. hatching, metamorphosis and maturation) is a fundamental question in evolutionary ecology. Previous studies examining this question from a fitness optimization perspective have advanced our understanding of why the timing of life-history transitions may vary across populations and environments. However, in nature we also often observe variability among individuals within populations. Optimization theory, which typically predicts a single optimal SP under physiological and environmental constraints for a given environment, cannot explain this variability. Here, we re-examine the evolution of a single life-history SP between juvenile and adult stages from an Adaptive Dynamics (AD) perspective, which explicitly considers the feedback between the dynamics of population and the evolution of life-history strategy. The AD model, although simple in structure, exhibits a diverse range of evolutionary scenarios depending upon demographic and environmental conditions, including the loss of the juvenile stage, a single optimal SP, alternative optimal SPs depending on the initial phenotype, and sympatric coexistence of two SP phenotypes under disruptive selection. Such predictions are consistent with previous optimization approaches in predicting life-history SP variability across environments and between populations, and in addition they also explain within-population variability by sympatric disruptive selection. Thus, our model can be used as a theoretical tool for understanding life-history variability across environments and, especially, within species in the same environment.

Breeding biology of the Pale-bellied Tyrant-manakin Neopelma pallescens (Aves: Pipridae) in south-eastern Brazil

ABSTRACTThe Pale-bellied Tyrant-manakin (Neopelma pallescens) inhabits semi-deciduous and riparian forests in central-north South America. Contrary to most manakins, there is no evident sexual dichromatism in the species and little is known about its breeding biology. We studied the breeding biology of a colour-banded population of the species from August to December 2016 and from August to October 2017 in the Campus Florestal of the Universidade Federal de Viçosa, south-eastern Brazil. The breeding season extended from early September to late November. The species is promiscuous, with males exhibiting simple courtship displays (exploded leks) in individual arenas. The nest (n = 13) is a cup attached by its top lip between forked branches and is very simple, with a structural layer made with dry grass stems and heads, attached to the branch with spider silk. The outer and lining layers are absent. The mean clutch size was 1.8 eggs (n = 11), which are oval and pale coloured, covered with spots of different shades of brown, often concentrated in the larger pole. Mean egg length and width (± SD) were 21.0 ± 0.9 × 15.8 ± 0.7 mm (n = 14) and the mean weight was 2.8 ± 0.4 g (n = 10). The incubation period could not be estimated, but the nestling period was 15 days (n = 2). The simple percentage of successful nests was 15.4%, with 76.9% of the nests depredated and 7.7% abandoned. This is the first detailed study about the breeding biology of any Neopelma species, providing relevant data for the study of the evolution of life history strategies not only for the genus, but for the whole family Pipridae.

About the Cover

Next article FreeAbout the CoverPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreCoverThe cover image is of a Pederson cleaner shrimp, Ancylomenes pedersoni, perched near its host sea anemone on a patch reef at St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Individuals of this species are major cleaners of ectoparasites from reef fishes in the Caribbean Sea, yet key aspects of their life history and population structure remain unknown.On pages 190–205, J. A. Gilpin and N. E. Chadwick reveal that the reproductive biology of this shrimp supports predictive models about the evolution of life-history strategies in symbiotic crustaceans. The results also provide a scientific basis for the conservation management of this ecologically important Caribbean reef invertebrate, which is in high demand for the ornamental aquarium trade.Credits: Photo, Jessica A. Gilpin, Auburn University. Cover design, Jeannie Harrell, University of Chicago Press. Next article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Biological Bulletin Volume 233, Number 3December 2017 Published in association with the Marine Biological Laboratory Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/697756 © 2017 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Thermal plasticity in postembryonic life history traits of a widely distributed Collembola: Effects of macroclimate and microhabitat on genotypic differences.

Life history traits in many ectotherms show complex patterns of variation among conspecific populations sampled along wide latitudinal or climatic gradients. However, few studies have assessed whether these patterns can be explained better by thermal reaction norms of multiple life history traits, covering major aspects of the life cycle. In this study, we compared five populations of a Holarctic, numerically dominant soil microarthropod species, Folsomia quadrioculata, sampled from a wide latitudinal gradient (56–81°N), for growth, development, fecundity, and survival across four temperatures (10, 15, 20, and 25°C) in common garden experiments. We evaluated the extent to which macroclimate could explain differences in thermal adaptation and life history strategies among populations. The common garden experiments revealed large genotypic differences among populations in all the traits, which were little explained by latitude and macroclimate. In addition, the life history strategies (traits combined) hardly revealed any systematic difference related to latitude and macroclimate. The overall performance of the northernmost population from the most stochastic microclimate and the southernmost population, which remains active throughout the year, was least sensitive to the temperature treatments. In contrast, performance of the population from the most predictable microclimate peaked within a narrow temperature range (around 15°C). Our findings revealed limited support for macroclimate‐based predictions, and indicated that local soil habitat conditions related to predictability and seasonality might have considerable influence on the evolution of life history strategies of F. quadrioculata. This study highlights the need to combine knowledge on microhabitat characteristics, and demography, with findings from common garden experiments, for identifying the key drivers of life history evolution across large spatial scales, and wide climate gradients. We believe that similar approaches may substantially improve the understanding of adaptation in many terrestrial ectotherms with low dispersal ability.

Life histories and conservation of long-lived reptiles, an illustration with the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus).

Successful species conservation is dependent on adequate estimates of population dynamics, but age-specific demographics are generally lacking for many long-lived iteroparous species such as large reptiles. Accurate demographic information allows estimation of population growth rate, as well as projection of future population sizes and quantitative analyses of fitness trade-offs involved in the evolution of life-history strategies. Here, a long-term capture-recapture study was conducted from 1978 to 2014 on the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) in southern Florida. Over the study period, 7,427 hatchlings were marked and 380 individuals were recaptured for as many as 25 years. We estimated survival to be strongly age dependent with hatchlings having the lowest survival rates (16%) but increasing to nearly 90% at adulthood based on mark-recapture models. More than 5% of the female population were predicted to be reproductive by age 8 years; the age-specific proportion of reproductive females steadily increased until age 18 when more than 95% of females were predicted to be reproductive. Population growth rate, estimated from a Leslie-Lefkovitch stage-class model, showed a positive annual growth rate of 4% over the study period. Using a prospective sensitivity analysis, we revealed that the adult stage, as expected, was the most critical stage for population growth rate; however, the survival of younger crocodiles before they became reproductive also had a surprisingly high elasticity. We found that variation in age-specific fecundity has very limited impact on population growth rate in American crocodiles. We used a comparative approach to show that the original life-history strategy of American crocodiles is actually shared by other large, long-lived reptiles: while adult survival rates always have a large impact on population growth, this decreases with declining increasing growth rates, in favour of a higher elasticity of the juvenile stage. Crocodiles, as a long-lived and highly fecund species, deviate from the usual association of life histories of "slow" species. Current management practices are focused on nests and hatchling survival; however, protection efforts that extend to juvenile crocodiles would be most effective for conservation of the species, especially in an ever-developing landscape.

Extreme longevity in a deep-sea vestimentiferan tubeworm and its implications for the evolution of life history strategies.

The deep sea is home to many species that have longer life spans than their shallow-water counterparts. This trend is primarily related to the decline in metabolic rates with temperature as depth increases. However, at bathyal depths, the cold-seep vestimentiferan tubeworm species Lamellibrachia luymesi and Seepiophila jonesi reach extremely old ages beyond what is predicted by the simple scaling of life span with body size and temperature. Here, we use individual-based models based on in situ growth rates to show that another species of cold-seep tubeworm found in the Gulf of Mexico, Escarpia laminata, also has an extraordinarily long life span, regularly achieving ages of 100-200years with some individuals older than 300years. The distribution of results from individual simulations as well as whole population simulations involving mortality and recruitment rates support these age estimates. The low 0.67% mortality rate measurements from collected populations of E. laminata are similar to mortality rates in L. luymesi and S. jonesi and play a role in evolution of the long life span of cold-seep tubeworms. These results support longevity theory, which states that in the absence of extrinsic mortality threats, natural selection will select for individuals that senesce slower and reproduce continually into their old age.

Sex- and age-dependent patterns of survival and breeding success in a long-lived endangered avian scavenger

In long-lived species, the age-, stage- and/or sex-dependent patterns of survival and reproduction determine the evolution of life history strategies, the shape of the reproductive value, and ultimately population dynamics. We evaluate the combined effects of age and sex in recruitment, breeder survival and breeding success of the globally endangered Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), using 31-years of exhaustive data on marked individuals in Spain. Mean age of first reproduction was 7-yrs for both sexes, but females showed an earlier median and a larger variance than males. We found an age-related improvement in breeding success at the population level responding to the selective appearance and disappearance of phenotypes of different quality but unrelated to within-individual aging effects. Old males (≥8 yrs) showed a higher survival than both young males (≤7 yrs) and females, these later in turn not showing aging effects. Evolutionary trade-offs between age of recruitment and fitness (probably related to costs of territory acquisition and defense) as well as human-related mortality may explain these findings. Sex- and age-related differences in foraging strategies and susceptibility to toxics could be behind the relatively low survival of females and young males, adding a new concern for the conservation of this endangered species.