{"product_id":"methuselahs-zoo-isbn-9780262047098","title":"Methuselah's Zoo","description":"\u003cb\u003eStories 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.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOpossums 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 \u003ci\u003eMethusaleh’s Zoo\u003c\/i\u003e, 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAustad—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. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHumans 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?Preface ix\u003cbr\u003e1 Doctor Dunnet's Fulmar 1\u003cbr\u003eI Longevity in the Air\u003cbr\u003e2 The Origin of Flight 19\u003cbr\u003e3 Pterosaurs: The First Flying Vertebrates 31\u003cbr\u003e4 Birds: the Longest-Lived Dinosaurs 41\u003cbr\u003e5 Bats: The Longest-Lived Mammals 59\u003cbr\u003eII Longevity on the Earth\u003cbr\u003e6 Tortoises and Tuataras: Longevity on Islands 81\u003cbr\u003e7 Queen for a Lifetime 101\u003cbr\u003e8 Tunnels and Caves 113\u003cbr\u003e9 The Behemoths (Elephants) 129\u003cbr\u003e10 Big Brains (Nonhuman Primates) 147\u003cbr\u003eIII Longevity in the Sea\u003cbr\u003e11 Urchins, Worms, and Quahogs 177\u003cbr\u003e12 Fishes and Sharks 199\u003cbr\u003e13 Whales Tales 219\u003cbr\u003eIV Human Longevity \u003cbr\u003e14 The Human Longevity Story 245\u003cbr\u003e15 Methuselah's Zoo Moving Forward 269\u003cbr\u003eAppendix 277\u003cbr\u003eNotes 279\u003cbr\u003eFurther Reading 289\u003cbr\u003eIndex 293\"For aspiring scientists and health care advocates.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e— \u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“It was refreshing to read \u003ci\u003eMethuselah’s Zoo\u003c\/i\u003e, the latest book from biologist Steven Austad, who expresses with clarity what we know and what we don’t know about aging.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003eScience\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e“I recommend \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eMethuselah’s Zoo\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e. . . a smartly written book . . . an entertaining tour of the whole animal kingdom in all its mad variety. I had no idea I would so enjoy reading about the naked mole rat, or indeed the “human fish”, a type of salamander that lurks in Balkan caves . . . Austad knows more about his subject than anyone on the planet.”\u003ci\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—The Telegraph\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“\u003ci\u003eMethuselah’s Zoo\u003c\/i\u003e is not only fun to read—it is the best book written on the lives and lifespans of our long-lived relatives, teachers of what’s possible for our own species and for our individual lives.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—David Sinclair, Professor, Harvard Medical School, author of \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e and international bestseller, \u003ci\u003eLifespan: Why We Age and Why We Don’t Have To\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “Steven Austad is a world class scientist who also has a rare gift for storytelling. His observations about the incredible range of longevity across species deeply informs human aging. Austad will draw you in with eloquent prose and leave you with compelling insights about aging.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Laura L. Carstensen, Professor of Psychology and Founding Director, Stanford Center on Longevity\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“A thrilling, hilarious and uplifting adventure into the astounding life of animals, debunking aging myths and revealing how the study of extraordinary animals can enable us to age more slowly. Brilliantly insightful and wonderfully hopeful!”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Emma Teeling, Professor of Zoology, University College Dublin\u003c\/b\u003eSteven 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 \u003ci\u003eWhy We Age: What Science Is Discovering about the Body’s Journey through Life\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eReal People Don’t Own Monkeys.\u003c\/i\u003e Among his many varied jobs before becoming an academic, Austad was a Hollywood lion trainer and a naturalist guide for the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, traveling to Antarctica, the Galapagos, New Guinea, Ethiopia, Siberia, Mongolia, and elsewhere.","brand":"The MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300301426917,"sku":"NP9780262047098","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780262047098.jpg?v=1767732600","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/methuselahs-zoo-isbn-9780262047098","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}