Life Expectancies Among Animals--Including Humans
When it comes to an animal's lifespan, we all vary so widely, yet it's really easy to forget that there are lots of creatures who outlive humans by many, many years. Yet the fact that humans have pretty much doubled their lifespan throughout our evolution makes you wonder which other species have, or might, do the same. This visual is humbling when it comes to just how many--and what kinds of--species actually outlive humans.
A freshwater pearl mussel, for example, lives to be 130 years. A mussle lives an average of 50 years more than a human! And we all know that the giant tortoise and some whales outlive us by more than two times, which has always been amazing to me, but both of them are outlived by the greenland shark, which lives to 272 years, and the barrel sponge lives for over 2,000 years! And of course there are the immortal jellyfish, who can just not die. Unbelievable!
Which animals were you surprised by, and which ones did you think would live longer or shorter lives? What animals not on this list do you know of that have strange life cycles? Share the odd facts you know in the chat.