c 14—Lancaster Faming, Saturday, May 23,1951
Wild animal’s life
LANCASTER A field mouse in
the wild is lucky to live to be a year
old. Yet, its' cousin, the pocket
mouse may live to five years of
age. Why do some animals live
longer than others? And how do
different animal species regard
their elders?
According to International
Wildlife magazine, scientists are
studying senescence, or aging, in
wildlife to find out the answers to
these questions, and m turn, to
better understand the processes
involved in human aging.
The answer to the mouse
mystery is simple. “Some small
mammals may live longer than
others of similar size because they
spend part of their lives in
hibernation or in dormancy, their
bodies barely functioning,” ex
plains the National Wildlife
Federation’s bi-monthly
publication.
Thus the pocket mouse, which
spends the hot desert season in a
state of torpor, will live much
longer than the on-the-go field
mouse.
Until recently, almost
everything we knew about animals
that live to be old came from zoos.
Longevity records for zoo
animals, says International
Wildlife, include: a 77-year-old
elephant; a 65-year-old vulture; a
49-year-old Hippopotamus; a 38-
year-old zebra.
Cold-blooded animals last even
longer, with tortoises reaching 150
years; sturgeon, 100; carp, 50; and
toads, 36.
Unfortunately, zoo records can
be misleading since animals tend
to live longer in the security of a
zoo than they do m the wild.
However, such records do give us
an appreciation for some species’
potential life spans.
“Animals that are most likely to
live to be old in the wild are those
which, as adults, have, no
predators except man,” says
International Wildlife. Most of
these are large-elephants, hippos,
rhinos, lions, tigers and wolves.
But some, such as the Galapagos
tortoise, survive not only because
of their large size, but also because
of their isolated habitat.
Scientists have found that a wild
animal's age can be estimated in
many ways, such as by inspecting
the lens from a rabbit’s eye, the
lens from a rabbit’s eye, the
thickness of baleen plates in the
mouths of whales, the annual rings
in the horns of sheep and antelope,
and tooth wear, or m some species,
“rings” in a tooth. Teeth are, in
fact, one of the most important
considerations for life in the wild;
ITS MAGIC
. How quickly
YooGctltcnlU
V From Our
V^Cl»«ilfled«!_,
spans differ
research shows that most wild
live only as long as their
teeth hold out.
After spending years living
among some species m the wild,
animal behaviorists have observed
that in the “social” species-those
animals that live and travel in
groups-older males and females
are treated quite differently.
“Males are generally of prune
importance to a social group only
when they are dominant,” says
International Wildlife. Eventually,
older males are driven from a
I . PINK
2. , REP
3. iBILOW
4-. BLUE
5. LT.GREV
GAME fISNES. NO FI9N IS
CALLED A GAME P/SUUNLESS
n PUTS UP A GALLANfEIGHT
AFTER TAPING 7VE P/BNEPt
MAN'S NOOK. 3/6 GAME
RSN/NQ fS DONE /NSFLT
WATER. TUBSAILFISF IS FA
MOUS FOR a 5 JUMPING AND
SWIMMING ABILITY'.
TROUT ARB TAB FAVORITE
f/6H FOR TAB FLYFISNBR
MBN. A TROUT F/SAERMAN
WILL STAND HU TAB WATER
FOR FOURS TO CATCH ONB OF
THESE SPECRLBP BBAUTTES.
PHONE
717 394 3047
0r717-C2»-1164
Watch out for wild
6. PK.OREV
7. GKEEKI
8. LT BROWN
9. IT. BLUE
10. LT. GREEN
Mom has lots of delicious fish recipes to make this week from Home on the
Range, so color these fish and hang them in her kitchen as an incentive.
1
i J
group by younger males when
then- strength has been reduced by
age.
Older females, m contrast, do
not seem to suffer this loss of social
status. Among most species, old
females usually continue to
reproduce,' although they have
fewer offspring then the young
females. Female elephants up to
fifty years of age continue to
function as “matriarchs” m then*
social group, and even the feeblest
lionesses are allowed to share the
kills of other pride members.
This la a zoo raoord, but a wild
tortoise, too, may live 150 years
Scientists studying old age in
nature say the tortoise's big
body, thick shell and safe
igevity possible
O/ „
w
k - 4g;
«T-
animals
Ah...yawn...stretch...grr and hu
characters saying? Write and tell us
mountain gorillas are thinking. Our e
winner and send him or her a surpri
mail now!
/p\