In animals, most tests of the terminal investment hypothesis are correlations of age and reproductive effort, immune challenges on all age stages, and immune challenges on older ages versus younger ages. The last type of test is considered to be a more reliable measure of senescence's effect on reproductive effort, as younger individuals should reduce reproductive effort to reduce their chance of death because of their high future reproductive prospects, while older animals should increase effort because of their low future prospects. Overall, the terminal investment hypothesis is generally supported in a variety of animals.
