Assessing ageing patterns for comparative analyses of mortality curves: Going beyond the use of maximum longevity

An increasing number of studies have investigated the diversity of actuarial senescence (i.e. the increase of mortality with age) and mortality patterns in the wild. Most of these studies used maximum longevity as a metric, and only some of them were based on the analysis of mortality or survival curves. However, maximum longevity is not a reliable metric to assess mortality patterns. Two types of metrics can be distinguished: the metrics of...