Lifespan

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The below may interest.

Lifespan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Lifespan is the maximum number of years a species can survive, defined by the

oldest

documented age of an individual member. The length of life in each species is

different. For mouse, the record is 4; for dogs, 29; for cats, 34; for horses,

62;

for elephants, 78; for humans, 122. The longest-lived vertebrates have been

variously described as tortoises (170 years) and whales (200 years). Although

considered fiction for a time, recent research has indicated that blue whales

recently killed still had harpoons in their bodies from the 1790's, which has

indicated a maximum life span so far of 211 years.

Plants, of course, tend to come in annuals, biennials, and perennials. The

longer-lived perennials, woody-stemmed plants such as trees and bushes, often

live

for hundreds and even thousands of years. The oldest-known tree is the

bristlecone

pine, at 4700 years; it has been claimed that creosote bushes live for 11,000

years,

but claims of this nature are based on estimates, rather than actual ring

counts.

Some have confused " life span " with " life expectancy, " when they are clearly not

the

same thing, as defined by gerontologists.

Al Pater, PhD; email: old542000@...

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