Why Do Eusocial Species Tend Towards Greater Longevity? (opens in new tab)

Long-lived naked mole-rats are eusocial: like ants and bees, they live in colonies led by a queen that is the only female that reproduces. Naked mole-rats are extremely long-lived in comparison to other similarly sized mammals, and this tendency towards greater longevity shows up in many other eusocial species. It crosses evolutionary clades and ecological niches, which might lead one to ask what exactly it is about eusociality that promotes longevity. Here, researchers offer a hypothesis bas...