ABSTRACT
Bumblebee-sized hummingbirds live about ve years. Pigeons can live thirty years, about seven times longer compared to a similar-sized rat (Montgomery et al., 2011). Naked mole rats from Africa can live thirty years or more compared to the threeto four-year life span of a similar-sized mouse. Large baleen whales might be the longest-lived mammals, with life spans estimated to be as long as two centuries. We have selected ve animals of varying life spans to evaluate the membrane polyunsaturation or peroxidation hypothesis of longevity (Figure 6.1) (Hulbert et al., 2007; Hulbert, 2008; Montgomery et al., 2011).
