Data from: Social and environmental predictors of gut microbiome age in wild baboons

Understanding why some individuals age faster than others is essential to
evolutionary biology and geroscience, but measuring variation in
biological age is difficult. One solution may lie in measuring gut
microbiome composition because microbiota change with many age-related
factors (e.g., immunity and behavior). Here we create a microbiome-based
age predictor using 13,563 gut microbial profiles from 479 wild baboons
collected over 14 years. The resulting “microbiome clock” predicts host
chronological age. Deviations from the clock’s predictions are linked to
demographic and socio-environmental factors that predict baboon health and
survival: animals who appear old-for-age tend to be male, sampled in the
dry season (for females), and high social status (both sexes). However, an
individual’s “microbiome age” does not predict the attainment of
developmental milestones or lifespan. Hence, the microbiome clock
accurately reflects age and some social and environmental conditions, but
not the pace of development or mortality risk.