What animals’ life spans can tell us about how people age

To understand human longevity, look to the animal world, says James Carey, a biodemography specialist at the University of California, Davis. Studying other species, from insects to elephants, “provides important information for why we age and why we live as long as we do,” Carey says.

By looking at how long other organisms can live, Carey and other researchers have found some guiding principles for why some species flash in and out in days and others live for more than a century.