Why do some animals live much shorter lifespans than humans and others much longer? What determines the lifespan on an animal?
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For most animals, it mostly has to do with energy usage (aka metabolism). Generally, the higher an animal’s metabolism, the shorter it’s lifespan will be. Animals that spend a lot of time chilling out and not doing anything energy intensive (whales, turtles) live a very long life, whereas animals that are high energy (rats, flies) live a much shorter life. This also correlates to size because larger animals tend to have a slower metabolism. Metabolism causes a lot of wear and tear on cells, which eventually leads to death. There are a few other factors that scientists believe play a part and it is still a debated topic to this day
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