Variation in the heritability and evolvability of human lifespan.

The heritability and evolvability of lifespan in two socioeconomically different groups of humans, including birth cohorts for 1600-1800s, were investigated. Among the aristocratic Europeans, the heritability estimates based on offspring-mother regressions ranged from 0.46 to 0.89, while the estimates based on offspring-father regressions varied from 0.23 to 0.59. However, the rural Finns possessed either no inheritable component or a clearly lower level of heritability than did the aristocrats, the estimates ranging from 0 to 0.40, depending on the method used. The additive genetic coefficients of variation and standardized evolvabilities were high in the aristocrats, especially in the data set including all data instead of limiting the data to the older age group. Among rural Finns, the values were considerably lower.