THE AGE OF THINGS
Rex Burress
Senior citizens are naturally interested in the age of things, especially in the age of other seniors! Naturally, there would be some interest in how long other animals live, including dinosaurs, a symbol of antiquity.
The subject of dinosaurs is as fascinating as the study of aliens from other planets, and so far we have no information on aliens, and dinosaur data is scanty as we have obtained facts only from fossils they left behind.
There is no doubt ton-sized reptilian-like animals lived on earth when we see the bones and skeletons right before our eyes. Is there? The bodily remnants are old, too, since scientific study has shown the dinosaur era existed about 230 million-years-ago until 65mya, and in contrast, modern man has existed only about the last 50,000 years as determined by bones! (On a cooling Earth estimated to be 4.6 billion years old, in a universe about 13.8 billion.) During that time period, a lot has happened geologically and culturally on our planet.
When we consider the present modern human-life expectancy on our planet to be about 70.5 years, we may gasp to realize what infants we are to the universe, and how fleeting our lives are. [“Art is long, and time is fleeting, and our hearts though stout and brave, /Still like muffled drums are beating, funeral marches to the grave.” --Henry James Longfellow] To avoid overrunning the planet with over-populations, age is specified in genetic code-instructions of how long a species can live, with some flexibility on age a few years more or less.
Determining the life-spans of dinosaurs is more difficult than a species living today, but some hints can be taken from modern-day reptiles. Those prehistoric giants were blood and bone and didn't live forever, and individually, maybe not all that long, as one process showed a Tyrannosaurus rex lived about 30 years. That analysis seems out of proportion considering several tons of weight and the time it would seemingly take to grow that large. An alligator lived 56 years in a zoo and weighed about 500 pounds, although crocodilians—and sharks—seem to keep growing as long as they live. Most animals have built-in clocks that determine life spans! How? Why? But there is a control factor of life-time in the longevity of tissue and cells that erodes with age. (“Golden lads and girls all must; as chimney sweepers, come to dust...Nothing gold can stay.”--Robert Frost.) Do you find that disturbing? Animals don't know, so it doesn't matter.
Many unexpected factors disrupt any kind of “average-chart,” due to predation, accidents, catastrophes [forest fire, flood, wind] [automobile wrecks, crime, disease]. Even defining “natural death” is ramp with side issues.
Generally, insects live about a year, however queen honey bees live about 5 years and workers about 12 weeks; queen ants 15 years and workers ten years! A queen termite; 50 years. In the wild: Whale 60, Greenland shark 400, osprey 21, white pine 450, bristlecone 4,900, redwood 2,300, English oak 1,500,
Some spot-age checks in a zoo: Badger, 15 yrs, bear 34, domestic cat 30, lion 35, donkey 50, porcupine 15, golden eagle 80, Canada goose 32, and carp 50. The giant Galapagos Tortoise can grow as large as a wash tub and live up to 170 years. Most turtle species are rather long-lived. Box turtle-pets commonly live well-over 100. “Life is filled with twists and turns!”
“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.” --Mark Twain
“None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm”--Henry David Thoreau
“Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art.”