Selected approaches to using individual variation for understanding mammalian, life-history evolution

Mammalogists have accumulated substantial data on mammalian life-history variation, within as well as between populations, species, and higher taxa. Our understanding of the interplay between phylogeny and natural selection in shaping mammalian Life-history patterns would be greatly enhanced, however, by: 1) synthesizing data from studies of individual life-history variation in natural populations from a broader taxonomic range of mammalian species, including primates, 2) using a more interdisciplinary approach to the study of aging, reproduction, and hormonal underpinnings of life-history patterns, including those of laboratory rodents, primates, and humans, and, 3) employing a deliberate melding of new biomedical technologies and experimental approaches for altering mammalian mortality, reproduction, and longevity with the approaches more traditionally used by mammalogists.