"Natural selection can’t fix problems that arise late in the animals’ life spans" Another common theory is that the rate of aging in a given species is optimiz

"Natural selection can’t fix problems that arise late in the animals’ life spans" Another common theory is that the rate of aging in a given species is optimized for rate of predation: if you are likely to be killed by the end of the year, it makes sense to allocate more energy to reproduction. Whereas, if you are likely to live to be 400, it makes sense to allocate a large portion of your energy intake to self-maintenance. The actual mechanism by which this optimization is implemented could easily vary between species, but it is worth noting that caloric restriction (while maintaining nutritional requirements) prolongs lifespan and vigor in all species tested.