Animal Life Spans

« Take the Underworld Challenge | Home | Super-size Me! »

By Linda | April 17, 2008

This last weekend I took my daughter to a Girl Scout event where we learned about various scaly, furry and feathery denizens of the rain forest. We both learned quite a bit about these animals including the fact that several varieties of parrots can live to more than 85 years of age! This got me wondering about the life spans of other animals. I know I’ve heard many of these fact separately but thought it was interesting to see them all together. Here is a table of animal lifespans from the shortest to the longest:

Animal Life Spans

The following table represents the expected life expectancy of 35 animals.

Shrew	2 yrs
Mouse	4 yrs
Guinea Pig	5 yrs
Garter Snake	6 yrs
Goat	10 yrs
Skunk	12 yrs
Crocodile	13 yrs
Fox	14 yrs
Bat	15 yrs
Porpoise	15 yrs
Reindeer	15 yrs
Wolf	16 yrs
Rattlesnake	18 yrs
Beaver	20 yrs
Domestic Dog	20 yrs
Python	20 yrs
Cardinal	22 yrs
Goldfish	25 yrs
Domestic Cat	30 yrs
Zebra	30 yrs
Grizzly Bear	34 yrs
Blue Whale	35 yrs
Camel	40 yrs
Rhinoceros	40 yrs
Hippoptamus	41 yrs
Buffalo	45 yrs
Chimpanzee	50 yrs
Horse	50 yrs
Ostrich	50 yrs
Sturgeon	50 yrs
Alligator	56 yrs
Indian Elephant	70 yrs
Parrot	100 yrs
Box Turtle	123 yrs
Giant Tortoise	127 yrs

*Please note that the numbers given above reflect maximum lifespans as opposed to average lifespans.

The animal with the shortest known life span is the gastrotrich (a minute aquatic animal) - It lives its whole life time in just three days!

A clam dredged from Icelandic waters is believed to have lived for 400 years - it may be the longest-lived animal known to science. To read more about this geriatric clam, CLICK HERE.