A major constraint on the evolution of large body sizes in animals is an increased risk of developing cancer. There is no correlation, however, between body size and cancer risk. This lack of correlation is often referred to as 'Peto's Paradox'. Here, we show that the elephant genome encodes 20 copies of the tumor suppressor gene TP53 and that the increase in TP53 copy number occurred coincident with the evolution of large body sizes, the evolution of extreme sensitivity to genotoxic stress, and a hyperactive TP53 signaling pathway in the elephant (Proboscidean) lineage. Furthermore, we show that several of the TP53 retrogenes (TP53RTGs) are transcribed and likely translated. While TP53RTGs do not appear to directly function as transcription factors, they do contribute to the enhanced sensitivity of elephant cells to DNA damage and the induction of apoptosis by regulating activity of the TP53 signaling pathway. These results suggest that an increase in the copy number of TP53 may have played a direct role in the evolution of very large body sizes and the resolution of Peto's paradox in Proboscideans.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.11994.001

A major constraint on the evolution of large body sizes in animals is an increased risk of developing cancer. There is no correlation, however, between body size and cancer risk. This lack of correlation is often referred to as 'Peto's Paradox'. Here we show that the elephant genome encodes 20 copies of the tumor suppressor gene TP53 and that the increase in TP53 copy number occurred coincident with the evolution of large body sizes in the elephant (Proboscidean) lineage. Furthermore we show that several of the TP53 retrogenes are transcribed and translated and contribute to an enhanced sensitivity of elephant cells to DNA damage and the induction of apoptosis via a hyperactive TP53 signaling pathway. These results suggest that an increase in the copy number of TP53 may have played a direct role in the evolution of very large body sizes and the resolution of Peto's paradox in Proboscideans.Lifespan and maximum adult body size are fundamental life history traits that vary considerably between species (Healy et al., 2014). The maximum lifespan among vertebrates, for example, ranges from over 211 years in the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) to only 59 days in the pygmy goby (Eviota sigillata) whereas body sizes ranges from 136,000 kg in the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) to 0.5 g in the Eastern red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) (Healy et al., 2014). Similar to other life history traits, such as body size and metabolic rate or body size and age at maturation, body size and lifespan are strongly correlated such that larger species tend to live longer than smaller species (Fig. 1A). While abiotic and biological factors have been proposed as major drivers of maximum body size evolution in animals, maximum body size within tetrapods appears to be largely determined by biology (Smith et al., 2010;Sookias et al., 2012). Mammals, for example, likely share biological constraints on the evolution of very large body sizes with rare breaks in those constraints underlying the evolution of gigantism in some lineages (Sookias et al., 2012), such as Proboscideans (elephants and their and extinct relatives), Cetaceans (whales), and the extinct hornless rhinoceros Paraceratherium ('Walter').

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