• Question: Why do humans live longer than most other animals?

    Asked by EquiCH to Carolyn, Peter, Richard, Sara, Siana on 20 Nov 2015. This question was also asked by Purplepenguin.
    • Photo: Richard Unwin

      Richard Unwin answered on 20 Nov 2015:

      Hi Guys – that’s a great question.

      An animals lifespan is related to lots of things but one of the most important seems to be its size – bigger animals live for longer.

      Back 1000 years ago we only lived until the age of 40-50, which is about where we should live to according to our size. Nowadays, humans buck that trend because we’ve developed medicines to help us to cure disease and live for longer.

    • Photo: Sara Falcone

      Sara Falcone answered on 20 Nov 2015:

      Hello from me and the mice that today are going through X-Ray to check their bone 😀

      As Richard says, in general the bigger the animal the longest the life. This is true but it is not related to the size, it is related on how fast the metabolism is. Small animals tend to have a faster metabolism so they live less. This is called rate-of-living theory. It is just a theory and I am not sure how accurate it is but hey.. it’s a start!

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