# Why do animals have such different lifespans?

- Institution: TED
- Department: TED-Ed
- Speaker: Joao Pedro de Magalhaes
- Year: 2017
- Level: For everyone
- Language: English
- Subjects: Biology, Medicine and health
- Source: [TED](https://www.ted.com/talks/joao_pedro_de_magalhaes_why_do_animals_have_such_different_lifespans)
- Licence: [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) (Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions.)
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

For the microscopic lab worm C. elegans, life equates to just a few short weeks on Earth. The bowhead whale, on the other hand, can live over two hundred years. Why are these lifespans so different? And what does it really mean to 'age' anyway? Joao Pedro de Magalhaes explains why the pace of aging varies greatly across animals. \[Directed by Sharon Colman, narrated by Addison Anderson, music by Peter Gosling\].

## Lectures

1. [Why do animals have such different lifespans?](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/ted/joao_pedro_de_magalhaes_why_do_animals_have_such_different_lifespans/d4bd3ca5970e), 5 min (TED's player)