Lifespan is the maximum number of years a species can survive, defined by the oldest documented age of an individual member. The length of life in each species is different. For mouse, the record is 4; for dogs, 29; for cats, 34; for horses, 62; for elephants, 78; for humans, 122. The longest-lived vertebrates have been variously described as tortoises (175 years) and whales (about 210 years). Although considered fiction for a time, recent research has indicated that blue whales recently killed still had harpoons in their bodies from the 1790's, which has indicated a maximum life span so far of 211 years. In biology, the most commonly used definition of species was first coined by Ernst Mayr. ... Life is a multi-faceted concept. ... MICE is an acronym for: Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment Money, Ideology, Compromise, Ego, four factors by which spies may be recruited. ... Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris (Linnaeus, 1758) The dog is a canine mammal of the Order Carnivora that has been domesticated for at least 24,800 years and perhaps for as long as 150,000 years based on recent evidence. ... Trinomial name Felis silvestris catus (Linnaeus, 1758) This article is about the domestic cat. ... Binomial name Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758 The Horse (Equus caballus) is a sizeable ungulate mammal, one of the seven modern species of the genus Equus. ... Genera and Species Loxodonta Loxodonta cyclotis Loxodonta africana Elephas Elephas maximus Elephas recki † Stegodon † Mammuthus † Elephantidae (the elephants) is a family of pest animals, the only family in the order Proboscidea that still exists today. ... Binomial name Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Subspecies Homo sapiens idaltu (extinct) Homo sapiens sapiens For other uses, see Human (disambiguation). ... Groups Conodonta Hyperoartia Petromyzontidae (lampreys) Pteraspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Thelodonti Anaspida Cephalaspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Galeaspida Pituriaspida Osteostraci Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) Placodermi Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) Acanthodii Osteichthyes (bony fish) Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) Actinistia (coelacanths) Dipnoi (lungfish) Tetrapoda Amphibia Amniota Sauropsida/(Reptiles) Aves (Birds) Synapsida Mammalia... Genera Chersina Dipsochelys Furculachelys Geochelone Gopherus Homopus Indotestudo Kinixys Malacochersus Manouria Psammobates Pyxis Testudo Tortoise is the name given to land-dwelling reptiles most of whose body is shielded by a special shell. ... Whales are the largest species of exclusively aquatic placental mammals, members of the order Cetacea, which also includes dolphins and porpoises. ... Binomial name Balaenoptera musculus (Linneus, 1758) Blue Whale range The Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales. ... Whaling harpoon A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument used in fishing to catch fish or other aquatic animals such as whales. ...

Plants, of course, tend to come in annuals, biennials, and perennials. The longer-lived perennials, woody-stemmed plants such as trees and bushes, often live for hundreds and even thousands of years. The oldest-known tree is the bristlecone pine, at 4700 years; it has been claimed that creosote bushes live for 11,000 years, but claims of this nature are based on estimates, rather than actual ring counts. Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... Annual, from the Latin annuum, or year means pertaining to a year or happening every year. ... Look up Biennial in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Biennial is a term referring to a period of two years, much in the same way centennial refers to 100 years. ... A Red Valerian, a perennial plant. ... Species Pinus aristata Pinus longaeva Pinus balfouriana The bristlecone pines are a small group of pine trees (Family Pinaceae, genus Pinus, subsection Balfourianae) that can reach an age far greater than that of any other living thing known - up to nearly 5,000 years. ...

Some have confused "life span" with "life expectancy," when they are clearly not the same thing, as defined by gerontologists. Life expectancy is the most likely number of years remaining for a living being (or the average for a class of living beings) of a given age to live. ... Gerontology is the study of the elderly, and of the aging process itself. ...