As it turns out, there's not one clear answer to the question - but there are some factors that weigh heavily in favor of our lap-sized pups.
Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science newsIn the animal kingdom, the general rule is the larger you are the longer you live. Elephants and whales are some of the longest living groups of animals on the planet, and they are respectively the largest organisms on land and in the ocean. Conversely, mice, and other rodents tend to experience much shorter lifespans.
However, one strange counterexample is the contrast in lifespan among different sized dog breeds. It is well-known that large dogs don’t live as long as their smaller relatives. For example, mastiffs, weighing up to 230 pounds, live for 6 to 10 years, while chihuahuas, which never weigh more than 6 pounds, live for 14 to 16 years .
There is also a deeper paradox to the concept of aging, says Jack da Silva from the Department of Molecular and Biomedical Science at the University of Adelaide. “Surely it is much easier for you to maintain yourself in peak physical condition over your lifetime than it was to develop from a fertilized egg into a complex, multicellular adult,” says da Silva.
So why has aging evolved, he asks? He thinks the lifespan differences observed across dog breeds could help researchers answer why.Our intuitive answers for why we age usually point to the impact living has on our bodies. Over time, our bodies degrade due to wear and tear. But this explains how we age, not why, and there is an important difference. Some species have evolved to live much longer than others, so why don’t all species evolve to live longer if aging is avoidable?.
According to da Silva, "any investment made in growth and reproduction cannot also be made in maintaining the body’s condition. Therefore, because selection weakens with age, you maximize the number of offspring produced by growing quickly and reproducing at a young age rather than maintaining your body in peak physical condition. This is the
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