A01=Steven N. Austad
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
aging
animal anatomy
animal behavior
animal books
animal books for adults
animal habitats
animal kingdom
animal kingdom book
animal lover gifts
animal science
animals
anthropology
Author_Steven N. Austad
automatic-update
biology
biology book
biology books
biology gifts
bones
books about animals
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=PS
COP=United States
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
dinosaurs
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_science
fitness
fitness books
happiness
health
health and fitness
health and wellness
horse
horses
human anatomy
Language_English
lions
longevity
longevity book
motivation
motivational books
natural history
natural history books
nature
PA=Available
personal growth books
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
real age
science
science book
science books
science books for adults
science gifts
science gifts for adults
self development books
self help
self help books
self improvement books
softlaunch
swimming
tigers
wellness
wild animals
zoology
zoology book
Product details
- ISBN 9780262547178
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 15 Aug 2023
- Publisher: MIT Press Ltd
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
Stories of long-lived animal species—from thousand-year-old tubeworms to 400-year-old sharks—and what they might teach us about human health and longevity.
Opossums in the wild don’t make it to the age of three; our pet cats can live for a decade and a half; cicadas live for seventeen years (spending most of them underground). Whales, however, can live for two centuries and tubeworms for several millennia. Meanwhile, human life expectancy tops out around the mid-eighties, with some outliers living past 100 or even 110. Is there anything humans can learn from the exceptional longevity of some animals in the wild? In Methusaleh’s Zoo, Steven Austad tells the stories of some extraordinary animals, considering why, for example, animal species that fly live longer than earthbound species and why animals found in the ocean live longest of all.
Austad—the leading authority on longevity in animals—argues that the best way we will learn from these long-lived animals is by studying them in the wild. Accordingly, he proceeds habitat by habitat, examining animals that spend most of their lives in the air, comparing insects, birds, and bats; animals that live on, and under, the ground—from mole rats to elephants; and animals that live in the sea, including quahogs, carp, and dolphins.
Humans have dramatically increased their lifespan with only a limited increase in healthspan; we’re more and more prone to diseases as we grow older. By contrast, these species have successfully avoided both environmental hazards and the depredations of aging. Can we be more like them?
Opossums in the wild don’t make it to the age of three; our pet cats can live for a decade and a half; cicadas live for seventeen years (spending most of them underground). Whales, however, can live for two centuries and tubeworms for several millennia. Meanwhile, human life expectancy tops out around the mid-eighties, with some outliers living past 100 or even 110. Is there anything humans can learn from the exceptional longevity of some animals in the wild? In Methusaleh’s Zoo, Steven Austad tells the stories of some extraordinary animals, considering why, for example, animal species that fly live longer than earthbound species and why animals found in the ocean live longest of all.
Austad—the leading authority on longevity in animals—argues that the best way we will learn from these long-lived animals is by studying them in the wild. Accordingly, he proceeds habitat by habitat, examining animals that spend most of their lives in the air, comparing insects, birds, and bats; animals that live on, and under, the ground—from mole rats to elephants; and animals that live in the sea, including quahogs, carp, and dolphins.
Humans have dramatically increased their lifespan with only a limited increase in healthspan; we’re more and more prone to diseases as we grow older. By contrast, these species have successfully avoided both environmental hazards and the depredations of aging. Can we be more like them?
Steven N. Austad is Distinguished Professor of Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the inaugural holder of the UAB Protective Life Endowed Chair in Healthy Aging. He is the author of Why We Age: What Science Is Discovering about the Body’s Journey through Life and Real People Don’t Own Monkeys.
