We live an average of 71 years—a drop in the bucket compared with some other life-spans. Here's hoping their population, at least, can soar again. (Related: "Healthy Diet Helps 183-Year-Old Tortoise Feel Young Again."). There are a little more than a hundred kakapos left on Earth. We did some digging and found some animals who are really getting the use out of their senior discount cards. "What’s the top ranking of the longest living animal?” Mohamed Larbi Bahou asked Weird Animal Question of the Week. The quahog’s life-span is usually about 225 years. Big birds like albatrosses tend to live longer, so they mature later and breed less frequently, Klicka says, whereas small birds “are lucky to live five years in the wild." If you have a question about the weird and wild animal world, tweet me, leave me a note or photo in the comments below, or find me on Facebook. A whale of a lifespan Bowhead whales may unlock the secrets to a long, healthy life The bowhead whale is the first large whale to have its genome analyzed. Typically, the life between 50-70 years.

Estimates of sponge longevity vary quite a bit, but are often in the thousands of years. (Related: "Six of the World’s Longest Lived Mammal Species."). (Also see "405-Year-Old Clam Called Longest-Lived Animal.").

Photograph by Paul Nicklen, Nat Geo Image Collection. Let us know or leave another question in the comments. The kakapo, a critically endangered parrot native to New Zealand, lives up to 60 years. When hypothermia stands in the way of Paul Nicklen's dream of photographing a 50-foot bowhead whale, sometimes a little push is all that is needed. Incidentally, according to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, the bowhead also has the largest mouth of any animal. Ming, a quahog clam, died at the age of 507 when researchers tried to dredge the bivalve up from Icelandic waters. Another way to determine life span is to look at groups of closely related species. Like other mammals, the calf stays with its mom for up to a year and often in close contact.

Right whale mothers and their calves exhibit strong behavioral attachments. A cold environment causes a low body temperature, which in turn means slow metabolism—and thus less damage to tissues, Moore says. Yes, a sponge is an animal—and it has a remarkable life-span. However, they have historically said to live to 100 years old. Some of these factors are as follows: Habitat – The habitat that a whale, dolphin or porpoise lives in can have a strong impact on their lifespan. Factors affecting the lifespan of a whale. •Bowhead whale: 211 •North Atlantic right whale: EG 1045 was at least 69 when she died. Researchers are using its genetic blueprint to probe how it is that this species can live longer than 200 years. Currently the world's oldest known land animal is Jonathan, an 183-year-old Aldabra giant tortoise that lives on the grounds of the governor’s mansion in St. Helena, an island off West Africa. Take sponges, for example. As stated earlier there are several factors that can affect a whales lifespan. Talk about speed dating. © 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, © 2015- A bowhead whale surfaces from a dive in the chilly waters of Lancaster Sound, Canada. Ear wax can be used to estimate age in right whales after they have died. Sign up for our emails! A bowhead whale surfaces from a dive in the chilly waters of Lancaster Sound, Canada. Photograph by Paul Nicklen, Nat Geo Image Collection, Meet the Animal That Lives for 11,000 Years, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/07/animals-oldest-sponges-whales-fish.html, The average global life expectancy of someone born in 2015 is 71.4 years, some adult female mayflies, which live for under five minutes, 405-Year-Old Clam Called Longest-Lived Animal, Six of the World’s Longest Lived Mammal Species, National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, that lives on the grounds of the governor’s mansion in St. Helena, Healthy Diet Helps 183-Year-Old Tortoise Feel Young Again, Wisdom is still giving birth to and raising healthy chicks. As far as mammals go, bowhead whales seem to have the most candles on their cake—over 200. Whale, that’s all folks! Kidding aside, humans these days live pretty long lives: The average global life expectancy of someone born in 2015 is 71.4 years. Right whales were named by whalers who identified them as the “right” whale to kill on a hunt. John Klicka, curator of birds at the Burke Museum in Seattle, says the oldest known wild bird is a 65-year-old Laysan albatross named Wisdom, which has shattered scientists' belief that her species lives to 40. What oldsters did we miss? “Using our lifespan estimator and the bowhead whale genome, we estimated the maximum longevity of the bowhead whale to be 268 years. Weird Animal Question of the Week. One study in the journal Aging Research Reviews notes a deep-sea sponge from the species Monorhaphis chuni lived to be 11,000 years old. Right whales can probably live at least 70 years, but data on their average lifespan is limited. That’s not bad compared with some adult female mayflies, which live for under five minutes—just long enough to mate and lay eggs. It makes sense, since the marine mammals live in chilly waters, says Don Moore, director of the Oregon Zoo in Portland. Some deep-sea fish, like the orange roughy, live to be 175 years old, according to the book Sexuality in Fishes. That means they must mature quickly and “produce as many clutches as possible” during breeding season.