In this talk, I will present data which show that the Sardinian cohorts born between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, and to which centenarians belong, present very low rates of ageing. This seems consistent with the specific characteristics of the epidemiological transition on the island, which started without any substantial modification in the very low nutritional levels of the population, and with recent findings from biogerontology, which recognize in a low disease burden and calorie restriction two conditions which may slow down ageing.

I will then present data that show that the exceptionally low female to male ratio among Sardinian centenarians seems to depend on past high fertility, because it took Sardinia a very long time to start its fertility transition.

This result appears consistent with evolutionary/life history theories about energy allocations (disposable soma theory), which suggest that senescence can be seen as a by-product of the priority that natural selection  places on reproduction, at the expense of later survival.