But there are still cases where animals with similar defining features,like size and habitat,age at completely different rates.In these cases, genetic differences,like how each organism's cells respond to threats, often account for the discrepancies in longevity.So it's the combination of all these factors playing out to differing degrees in different animals that explains the variability we see in the animal kingdom.So what about us?
Humans currently have an average life expectancy of 71 years,meaning that we're not even close to being the longest living inhabitants on Earth.
But we are very good at increasing our life expectancy.
In the early 1900s, humans only lived an average of 50 years.Since then, we've learned to adapt by managing many of the factors that cause deaths,like environmental exposure and nutrition.This, and other increases in life expectancy make us possibly the only species on Earth to take control over our natural fate.