Evolutionary theories of aging: Handle with gave

Background: Evolutionary theories are considered by a growing number of gerontologists as providing a basis to understand why aging occurs. Objective: In such conditions, a risk could exist to favor evolutionary explanations rather than nonevolutionary ones, even when both equally fit the data. Methods: A paper recently published on longevity in ants is analyzed, and a study of fertility and longevity in human beings is done to illustrate this risk. Results: In the two cases, evolutionary and concurrent hypotheses may apply to the same data. Conclusions: When both kinds of explanations may be applied, the way to solve the problem is not to favor one explanation by relying on a priori preferences, particularly if the favored hypothesis is still controversial.