Why do certain animals, such as house pets have a shorter life span, than us humans???

Question

Thanks mrpock Once again I see God/bibles/religion coming into the biology department. Hmm interesing again-huh?

Answer 1

Every animal has its own lifespan, as you know, from those that are much shorter than ours (hamster- 2 or 3 years) to those that are longer (parrot or tortoise -100 years). I don't know if there is any reasonable explanation to why different species have different lifespans, but I do know that the shorter the lifespan, the more babies they have in a litter and more often. For instance, mice have a short life so they have to have lots of little mice to keep the species going!

Answer 2

In the animal kingdom, there are two main life strategies. In the first, the animal lives a long time and produces relatively few high-quality offspring which have relatively high probabilities of survival. Examples include humans and many other primates, elephants, whales, large tortoises, many bats, and birds such as macaws.

The second strategy involves a shorter lifespan, reproduction at a younger age, and producing many low-quality offspring, many of which will not survive. Classic examples of this reproductive strategy include rabbits and opossums.

We humans have been able to extend our lifespans well past the end of our reproductive periods because we have used technology to relax the selective pressures on our species.

I just found it on the internet

Answer 3

Metabolic rates. Usually animals with higher metabolic rates like say a mouse would tend to have a lower life span because the body is too demanding on it. Reptiles on the other hand are poikilotherms and have a low metabolic rate which is why they are so sluggish. As for us humans, I am not sure what you mean, the life span of most third-world countries is around 20 - 30 years of age. We are simply lazy and have easy access to food, which is why house pets have a higher life span than their wild counterparts.

Answer 4

In reality your average house pets, such as a dog or cat do actually live longer than most people realize.

Their life span is more than 7 times that of a human. If you have a dog as a pup and it lives with you for 10 yrs it is actually over 70 yrs old. So if you have one that is older than 15 years it is as about as rare as most humans living past 100.
hope this answers your question.

Duane Anderson
"The investment that Pays"
www.minvestment.com/?r=andy4

Answer 5

It is just there normal life span. Some animals live longer than other such as turtles that can live longer than 100 years. For humans, we do a lot of testing and have lots of cures for common diseases as well.

Answer 6

Most animals have a shorter lifespan than us. Only animals such as whales, tortoises, elephants and parrots can live longer than us.
If kept well, animals in captivity can actually live longer than those in the wild.

Answer 7

Most animals have very short life span. When they mature fast, they die fast. Otherwise the earth is full of them. Turtoise, carps, elephants and humans are among the ones having a long life span.

Answer 8

It is built into the DNA. Generally small animals live the shortest.

Answer 9

I think it's the metabolism. (See Carlos S' answer.) The answer about survival strategy is interesting, too, but it's hard to say which is cause and which is effect.

Answer 10

because most people who own animals or pets cannot afford to buy health insurance for their pets. And your government is too cheap or crooked to give us free medical care for us or our pets.