Even humanity itself is very young. But life span is a really relative term: there are

creatures on our planet that live much shorter lives than us humans, and those who outlive

all of us by far… while some are close to immortality. See for yourself.

Mayfly — 24 hours or less Has the shortest lifespan on Earth

Drone ant — 3 days Is the shortest-living among ants

Male mosquito — 1 week Doesn’t drink blood. Good to know.

Housefly — 15-25 days Can lay up to 1,000 eggs in its lifetime

Female mosquito — 1 month DOES drink blood.

Dragonfly — 4 months The largest extinct dragonfly had a wing span

of 30 in

Bed bug — up to 6 months They have 7 stages of life

Moon jellyfish — up to 18 months The most popular jellyfish in the world. What,

on Instagram?

House mouse — 1 year Can squeeze into a ¼ inch hole

Panther chameleon — 1 year The shortest liver among reptiles

Mole — 3 years Moles have kitchens where they store food

Pigeon — 4 years Homing pigeons are easy to train for mail

delivery

Guinea pig — 4 years They have best buds and recognize their owners

Honeybee — 5 years Hive mind gives them a sort of telepathy

Dumbo octopus — 5 years Their “Dumbo ears” are fins at the top

Red panda — 7 years They use their tails to cover from cold

Opossum — 8 years Not to be confused with possum! (more on that

later)

Chicken — 9 years The most popular poultry in the world

Kangaroo — 10 years They can use their tail as a lever to box

with their hind legs

Hummingbird — 12 years Their hearts make 1,200 beats per minute

Cheetah — 12 years The fastest land animal alive

Brushtail possum — 13 years These ones are related to kangaroos

Dog — 13 years The Great Dane can reach over 7 ft standing

on its hind legs

Tiger — 15 years The largest of the cat species

Domestic cat — 16 years Maine Coons reach over 3 ft in body length

Platypus — 17 years The only venomous mammal in the world, other

than say, old girlfriends. Just kidding.

Cow — 20 years Knickers the steer is the tallest bovine ever

with 6’4” in height

Lion — 20 years Females usually do all the hunting for the

lion pride, while males rest

Polar bear — 20-30 years Polar bears are apex predators — they have

no natural enemies

Queen ant — 20-30 years Mother to thousands of ants

Giraffe — 25 years The tallest living creature in the world

Grizzly bear — 30 years They can run at 30 mph and climb trees

Bald eagle — 32 years One of the most famous symbols of the USA

Giant panda — 35 years They have a pseudo-thumb they use to hold

bamboo

Horse — 40 years The Przewalski’s horse is the only truly

wild member of this species

Camel — 40 years There are two types of camels: Dromedary (1

hump) and Bactrian (2 humps)

Common goldfish — up to 40 years. Ha. Not in my house.

The oldest goldfish lived for 43 years

Orangutan — 45 years Their arm span is bigger than their height

White rhinoceros — 50 years It’s not actually white, but dark grey

Andean condor — 50 years The largest bird in the world

Laysan albatross — 55 years They’re incredibly clumsy on land

Tuatara — 60 years They have a third eye on top of their heads

Longfin eel — 60 years No one knows where they give birth to their

young

Macaw — 65 years Some macaws live more than 100 years

Human — 68-73 years on average. Your mileage may vary.

We’re the most numerous mammals on Earth

Olm — 69 years It’s called “human-fish” for its fleshy

skin

African bush elephant — 70 years Mother bush elephants bear their cubs for

22 months

Great white shark — 70 years They can’t stop swimming to stay alive

Japanese koi fish — over 70 years Can potentially live for hundreds of years

Orca — 75 years They can even hunt sharks!

Gray whale — 77 years Small creatures cover its skin, making it

look patched

Kakapo — 80 years The world’s only flightless parrot

European eel — 88 years In its first stage of life it’s virtually

transparent

Blue whale — 90 years The biggest animal that ever lived

Nile crocodile — 95 years They may have lived alongside dinosaurs

Pacific ocean perch — 98 years They wish they could be centenarians :(

American lobster — 100 years There’s such a thing as a rainbow lobster

Japanese spider crab — 100 years Their long legs are exceptionally brittle

White sturgeon — 104 years An important food fish

Freshwater pearl mussel — over 110 years Pearls are, in fact, pieces of debris covered

in mucus

Aldabra giant tortoise — 120 years The largest tortoise on the planet

Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise — 125 years

A popular pet reptile

Rougheye rockfish — 140 years Some fish can live to be more than 200 years

old

Geoduck — 150 years Both the largest and longest-living mollusk

on Earth

Lake sturgeon — 152 years Member of a family of 27 species

Galapagos tortoise — 170 years The oldest living tortoises

Orange roughy — 175 years Some of the few deepwater fish that go to

food

Bowhead whale — 200 years They can leap entirely out of the water

Red sea urchin — 210 years It has feet protruding from its belly

Quahog clam — 225 years The oldest clam (507 years old) was conceived

during Chinese Ming dynasty

Giant tube worm — 250 years It consists of numerous tiny creatures that

are constantly recycled

Greenland shark — over 270 years The longest-living vertebrate

Giant tube sponge — over 2,000 years Despite the lack of any organs, they can feed

and reproduce

Coral reef — 4,000 years Great Barrier Reef is visible from space

Turritopsis dohrnii — forever It’s biologically immortal. Can go back

to being polyp and grow up again infinitely

Well that’s all I have time for…