THE SPAN OF LIFE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5346, 2 November 1928, Page 2

THE SPAN OF LIFE.

APPLICATION TO ANIMALS. SOME RECORDED INCIDENTS. Intieresting, information should be gathered by Dr. E. 11. Marshall in the investigations he will shortly cop.' tinue regarding the life of a whale. Amongst animals that suckle their young, it is thought that whales live longest. Exact records are not ava.iL able, but experts assess the normal span of a whale’s life somewhere in the span of a couple of centuries. But length of life does not always depen'l on size, for the rhino, and hippcj. rarely exceed 35 while horses, cats, dog;s, frequently ha.ve been kpfown to* live to a quarter of a century. The century mark Is r a rely passed by human beings, but eagles and falcons have been known to pass this mark on <■-

quite a number of qccasions. It is well known that parrots frequently live to eighty, bu,t it is not so well known that sw&nfc, ravens, anjd owls are close competitors to the parrot. Gulls, ducks, geese, and turkeys, if they are lucky, grow old at at forty. Amongst the centenarians must also be included* tortqjses, crocodiles, and even salmon. Toads and eels have; been known to live for sixty and seventy years in captivity, but frogs rarely live beyond the age cf twelve. The shortest lived is the mayfly, the delight of trout and anglers. It has only a few hours, or at most a day qr two, ii\ which to taste; the joys of life» Queen bees may live five years, but the other inmates of her hive rarely live more than a season ; in fact, the worker bee’s wings wear cut after a month or two, and fs no alternative but death. Trees live longest, and probably the kauri runs the Baobab trees.; of Cape Verde, a close race to the '5OOO-year mark. These Baobabs, planted some; 2000 years before Christ, are in their prime now.