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Longest and shortest life spans

Q: Which animal has longest and which the shortest life span?

The short-lived gastrotrich. Courtesy of Jasper Nance and Wikipedia.

A: The giant tortoise lives the longest, about 177 years in captivity, and the gastrotrich (a minute aquatic animal) lives the shortest — three days.

This question brings up intriguing matters, such as: what is an animal, can we compare all animals together, when does life begin and end, what can we actually observe?  Here are some answers:

Animals are living things that aren't plants. Animal cells lack cellulose walls and chlorophyll. Animals can't photosynthesize to eat; they need more complex food, like proteins. They move around when they want to and respond quickly if poked or otherwise stimulated.

Protozoans are animals, but can we include such animals in our search for extreme life spans? No, because protozoans reproduce by dividing a single parent. They are not individuals and essentially live forever, or as long as the species survives. We can't compare colonies or genetically identical organisms with distinct individuals that result from a sexual reproduction. That's comparing apples with oranges.

Certain fishes and reptiles apparently keep on growing for extended lives unless some accident befalls them. Is one of them the oldest animal? Maybe. But, such animals live in the wild. We can't observe them for the length of time it takes to determine their eventual life span. Animals move around, which makes evaluating their age difficult. We determine species life spans usually from captive animals because we can track their ages.

So, that's how I arrived at the answer--from animals in captivity. The longest-lived captive animal is the giant tortoise (177 years) and the shortest, the gastrotich (3 days).

By the way, Forest Preserve District of Cook County presents examples of extreme old age in a nature bulletin (No. 486-A, dated  March 24, 1973).  Here's their animal old age table, chosen from reliable records of zoos and aquariums all over the world:

 

MAMMALS         YEARS Elephant        69 Horse           50 Hippopotamus    49 Chimpanzee      40 Grizzly Bear    32 Bison           30 Lion            30 Tiger           25 Elk             22 Mountain Lion   20 Beaver          19 Wolf            16 Squirrel        16 Chipmunk        12 Cottontail      10 House Mouse     4	BIRDS           YEARS Turkey Buzzard  118 Swan            102 Parrot           80 Great Horned Owl 68 Eagle            55 English Sparrow  23 Canary           22 Humming Bird      8	FISH            YEARS Catfish          60 Eel              55 Carp             47 Mosquitofish      2
REPTILES        YEARS Giant Tortoise  152 Box Turtle      123 Alligator        68 Snapping Turtle  57 Cobra            28 Cottonmouth      21	AMPHIBIANS      YEARS Giant Salamander 55 Toad             36 Bullfrog         30 Mud Puppy        23 Green Frog       10 Newt              7	INSECTS         YEARS Cicada           17 Ant (queen)      15

Finally, a Danish study of 3000 dogs indicated that the median life span of all dogs in the study was 10 years, reported Helle Friis Proschowsky, an animal scientist at Denmark's Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University and the Danish Kennel Club. Mixed breed canines generally lived for another year, dying at a median age of 11 years.  Smaller breeds generally lived longer than bigger ones.

(Answered April 4, 2001)

Comment  I'll post your comment with the discussion as soon as I can.

Readers' Comments

• Why aren't Tuararas on your list? It would seem they would be right up at the top of longest lifespan.  Tuataras reach sexual maturity at 20 and can live to between 150 and 250 years.  Michael, Oakland, California, USA

Reply:  Good point.  The tuatara is the only living descendent of the order of reptiles (Rhynchocephalia) that flourished a few hundred million years ago, and now lives in the cold, damp climate of about 30 small islands off the coast of New Zealand.  This 18-inch (50-cm) long lizard-like reptile takes about two years to hatch and 10 to 20 years to reach sexual maturity (the longest reproductive cycle of any reptile).  "It's not uncommon for an individual to live for over 100 years, says Bruce Musico of the University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web. 

• Dogs can live longer.   Actually the longest living animal is a clam. It's a sea animal that can live up to 400 years.  Also, you have written that dogs can live up to 10 years, whereas my dog lived for 13.  Ash, Lahore, Pakistan.
   
• Add bowhead whales to your list of longer lived Mammals.  "In May 2007, a 50 ton specimen caught off the Alaskan coast was discovered to have the head of an explosive harpoon embedded deep under the blubber of its neck. Examination determined the 3 1/2 inch arrow-shaped projectile was manufactured in New Bedford, Massachusetts, a major whaling center, around 1890. This proof that it survived a similar hunt more than a century ago indicated to researchers that the whale's age was between 115 and 130 years old.
  
  Because of their possible lifespans, female Bowhead Whales are believed to go through menopause. Observations of very large animals without calves support this hypothesis.
  
  Plainly, maximum lifespan is not yet determined - but it may be the greatest of all mammals."  From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowhead_Whale  See p 77, April 2009 National Geographic for description as the "longest lived mammal on the planet" Dawson, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
   
• Don't forget Mayflies.  I was under the impression that the Mayfly only lives for 1 day which would give it the shortest lifespan. Steve Auckland New Zealand
   
• I got into with a co-worker about the longest living Mammal, so I googled it when I got home, according to your list he is correct.  He asked me if I knew what the longest living animal was.  I responded with, "if you are including reptiles in "animals" then I would guess Turtle." And I also implied "if you are referring only to mammals I would guess whale." 
  He said "lol I can't believe you don't know this, it's the elephant." 
  I suggested that human and whale must live longer than elephants in my opinion.
  Then at the top of your list is Elephant with 69 years. After researching this further I still disagree with both your list and my co-worker.  Whales and Humans both live longer than 69 years and should be at the top of the longest lifespan of mammals list.  Chris, Chicago, Illinois, USA
   
• Reply:  Read on, Chris.  The next paragraph on the page discusses the longest lived mammal, and, as you correctly surmise:  the human.  The giant tortoise is the longest lived animal --- about 177 years in captivity.
   
• My granparents had two dogs and one lived to 17 and one lived to 18.  Bob, Somewhere, World
• What about Koi fish? I read that the oldest koi fish ever discovered was over 225 years old.   Alicia, Grass Valley, California, USA
• Lamellibrachia can live 170 to 250+ years.
  An arctica islandica clam was found to be 405 years old.
  An Antarctic sponge (cinachyra antarctica) has been found to be 1550 years old.
  A koi fish named Hanako made it to 226.  George, Little Falls, NJ, USA
• When I went on to Yahoo and typed in "What's the longest live span of a animal?", it said tortoise and it said she lived 172 years and i keep questioning if thats right..... Kylee, Frankfort, Kentucky, USA

  Reply:  My sources say '177' years.

• as to life span of dogs.. i had a german shepherd who died of cancer at the age of 18 years and i now have a greyhound who i used to race and retired her at the age of 6 years old she has had her fair share of life threatening ailments yet she is still alive and very fit and healthy and happy and very much loved and SHE IS NOW 16 YEARS OLD and even now if i say to her tiger? do you want to go for a race she gets all excited and runs around even though she hasn't raced for 10 years  i am hoping she will keep on living for years to come     HER RACING NAME WAS RUBY WHITE SOX. RON, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
• Greenland sharks are believed to live up to 200 years   Sharky, somewhere in  New York, USA
• Actually, some species of glass sponges live for an average of 15,000 years, and one specimen of glass sponge has been estimated to be 23,000 years old Lisa, Shelby Twp, Minnesota, USA
• its for the people who got freaked out that their dogs are going to die at the age of 10.  The study said MEDIAN. Not MAXIMUM. So out of 3000, some died past 10, some before.  Greg Simonds Montreal Canada
• Don't flies have shorter lives than gastrotriches? Alex Orange California USA
• Reply:  Nope, Alex.  A house fly lives about a month and a gastrotrich just 3 days.
   

Further Reading:

Why do larger animals live longer than smaller ones?  WonderQuest

Life Span of Ancient Man — long or short?  WonderQuest

Gastrotrich, Wikipedia

Giant tortoise, Wikipedia

Life span, Encyclopedia Britannica

Tuararas, University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web

Q: Which mammal has longest and which the shortest life span?

A: If we just look at mammals, then primates are the longest lived group and man is the longest lived of the primates: 122 years (Jeanne Louise Calment, 1875 - 1997). Tiny shrews live the shortest: maybe 1 to 1.5 years. Interesting enough, among primates the bigger your brain, the longer you live. The faster you live, though, the shorter you live. Squirrel-like rodents live two or three times longer than mouse-like rodents because their rate of metabolism is slower.

(Answered April 4, 2001)