Spectral Filtering, Thermal Environment, Metabolic Pace and Locomotor Activity as Interacting Modulators of Exceptional Vertebrate Longevity

Abstract

This work presents an original integrative hypothesis formulated by J. S. Baenacock proposing that species-specific integumentary spectral filtering may interact with thermal environment, metabolic pace and locomotor activity in the evolution of exceptional vertebrate longevity. The hypothesis predicts that exceptionally long-lived vertebrates may exhibit distinctive optical properties of the integument compared with phylogenetically related, shorter-lived species, particularly across red and near-infrared wavelengths. A comparative experimental framework is proposed to measure spectral reflectance, transmittance and absorption while controlling for phylogeny, tissue thickness, pigmentation, habitat, temperature, metabolic rate, body mass and locomotor activity. The manuscript does not claim that spectral filtering, low temperature or reduced activity independently cause longevity; rather, it proposes a falsifiable framework for testing their potential interaction with established mechanisms of genome maintenance, mitochondrial function, cellular stress resistance and aging. The document includes the complete English version followed by a Spanish version.