Age-specific patterns of reproductive success in wild female Eurasian lynx across Europe

Liang, Yutong (author), Mattisson, Jenny (author), Andrén, Henrik (author), Linnell, John (author), Nilsen, Erlend B. (author), Odden, John (author), Persson, Jens (author), Aronsson, Malin (author), Johansson, Örjan (author), Hemmingmoore, Heather (author), Krofel, Miha (author), Hočevar, Lan (author), Fležar, Urša (author), Oliveira, Teresa (author), Černe, Rok (author), Slana, Darja (author), Trajbarič, Aleksander (author), Molinari-Jobin, Anja (author), Molinari, Paolo (author)

Reproductive lifespan and age-specific reproductive performance are key life-history traits, shaping individual fitness and population dynamics. Here, we examine age-specific variation in reproductive success in a wild large carnivore, the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), using 38 years of longitudinal data from 173 known-age females across Europe and western Asia. Female lynx exhibited age-related reproductive patterns: (i) breeding probability increased with age before declining at older ages, (ii) litter size remained generally stable at two kittens, although it declined to one kitten in older mothers at northern latitudes, and (iii) offspring survival peaked at intermediate female ages, with variation across individuals, years and latitudes. These patterns likely reflect physiological maturation and increased experience (ages 2 to 8), followed by declines due to reproductive and maternal effect senescence in older females. Temporal and latitudinal variations suggest that environmental conditions shape reproductive patterns in Eurasian lynx, with senescence particularly pronounced in resource-scarce environments. Our findings enhance the understanding of age-related reproductive patterns in carnivores across environmental contexts, contributing to life-history theory and improving evidence-based management by accounting for age structure in population forecasting.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Lynx lynx, age-related reproduction, offspring survival, physiological development, senescence, life-history traits, felids, mammalian carnivores
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 27.05.2026
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 10 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 22, issue 5, [article no.] 20250748
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-183236
• UDC: 599.742.734
• ISSN on article: 1744-957X
• DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2025.0748
• COBISS.SI-ID: 280925955
• Publication date in RUL: 09.06.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Biology letters
• Shortened title: Biol. lett.
• Publisher: Royal Society
• ISSN: 1744-957X
• COBISS.SI-ID: 523004697

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: Lynx lynx, evrazijski ris, razmnoževanje, starost, preživetje mladičev, staranje, reproduktivni uspeh, mačke, zveri

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: J1-50013
• Name: ExtremePredator: Odkrivanje ekološke vloge vrhovnih plenilcev v ekstremnih okoljih

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P4-0059
• Name: Gozd, gozdarstvo in obnovljivi gozdni viri