1.Advanced maternal age at birth can have pronounced consequences for offspring health, survival and reproduction. If carried over to the next generation, such fitness effects could have important implications for population dynamics and the evolution of ageing, but these remain poorly understood. While many laboratory studies have investigated maternal age effects, relatively few studies have been conducted in natural populations, and they usually only present a "snapshot" of an offspring's lifetime. 2.In the present study, we focus on how maternal age influences offspring life-history trajectories and performance in a long-lived mammal. 3.We use a multigenerational demographic dataset of semi-captive Asian elephants to investigate maternal age effects on several offspring life-history traits: condition, reproductive success, and overall survival. 4.We show that offspring born to older mothers display reduced overall survival but higher reproductive success, and reduced survival of their own progeny. Our results show evidence of a persistent effect of maternal age on fitness across generations in a long-lived mammal. 5.By highlighting transgenerational effects on the fitness of the next generation associated with maternal age, the present study helps increase our understanding of factors contributing to individual variation in ageing rates and fitness. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

中文翻译：

---

出生时的母亲年龄决定了长寿亚洲象的后代生活史轨迹

1. 高龄产妇可能对后代的健康、生存和繁殖产生显着影响。如果延续到下一代，这种健康效应可能会对人口动态和老龄化演变产生重要影响，但这些仍然知之甚少。虽然许多实验室研究调查了母亲年龄的影响，但在自然种群中进行的研究相对较少，而且它们通常只呈现后代一生的“快照”。2.在本研究中，我们关注母体年龄如何影响长寿哺乳动物的后代生活史轨迹和表现。3.我们使用半圈养亚洲象的多代人口统计数据集来研究母亲年龄对后代生活史特征的影响：状况、繁殖成功、和总生存期。4.我们表明，高龄母亲所生的后代总体存活率降低，但繁殖成功率更高，并且其后代的存活率降低。我们的研究结果表明，有证据表明，在长寿哺乳动物中，母体年龄对跨代健康的持续影响。5.通过强调与母亲年龄相关的下一代健康的跨代影响，本研究有助于增加我们对导致衰老率和健康的个体差异的因素的理解。本文受版权保护。版权所有。我们的研究结果表明，有证据表明，在长寿哺乳动物中，母体年龄对跨代健康的持续影响。5.通过强调与母亲年龄相关的下一代健康的跨代影响，本研究有助于增加我们对导致衰老率和健康的个体差异的因素的理解。本文受版权保护。版权所有。我们的研究结果表明，有证据表明，在长寿哺乳动物中，母体年龄对跨代健康的持续影响。5.通过强调与母亲年龄相关的下一代健康的跨代影响，本研究有助于增加我们对导致衰老率和健康的个体差异的因素的理解。本文受版权保护。版权所有。