Data from: Generation length for mammals

Generation length (GL) is defined as the average age of parents of the
current cohort, reflecting the turnover rate of breeding individuals in a
population. GL is a fundamental piece of information for population
ecologist as well as for measuring species threat status (e.g. in the IUCN
Red List). Here we present a dataset including GL records for all extant
mammal species (n=5426). We first reviewed all data on GL published in the
IUCN Red List database. We then calculated a value for species with
available reproductive parameters (reproductive life span and age at first
reproduction). We assigned to missing-data species a mean GL value from
congeneric or confamilial species (depending on data availability).
Finally, for a few remaining species, we assigned mean GL values from
species with similar body mass and belonging to the same order. Our work
provides the first attempt to complete a database of GL for mammals; it
will be an essential reference point for all conservation-related studies
that need pragmatic information on species GL, such as population dynamics
and applications of the IUCN Red List assessment.