Home > Animals > Interesting Facts > The age-defying Brandt’s bat

The age-defying Brandt’s bat

By: staff   Date: 04/6/2018

In most mammals, larger size correlates with longer lifespan, but that is not the case with the Brandt’s bat, who can live up to 41 years and weigh less than 0.28 ounces! These bats resemble larger, longer-lived mammals in that they mature slowly and have fewer offspring – but the size difference is dramatic: a female Bonobo lives for approximately 40 years as well, but she outweighs the Brandt’s bat by a factor of 3,771! Oddly enough, it is suspected that the mutated gene that causes the bat’s dwarfish size is the same one that leads to its long lifespan. Studying animals with unusual longevity like the Brandt’s bat does more than just satisfy our curiosity, it could lead to longer, healthier lifespans for humans and other animals!

Related Mammals

(Myotis lucifugus)

(Panthera onca)

(Neotragus pygmaeus)

(Elephas maximus indicus)

Other Mammals Facts
A 200 Million Year-old Iconoclast

If a defining trait of mammals is that they give live birth to their young, how do you explain monotremes? Monotremes…
Learn more >>

Bats: The Only True-Flying Mammal

Bats, the only mammal capable of true flight, are not blind - their eyes are just fine, thank you very much. But instead…
Learn more >>

The Opossum Ain’t Playing

Many people associate playing dead with the opossum - that’s where the term “playing opossum” comes from, after…
Learn more >>

Wake me in 9 months…

There may be times when you are so tired you feel as if you could sleep for several days - but of course that is not possible…
Learn more >>

Interesting Animal Facts

It has long been known that Frogs retract their eyes and close them while eating, leading scientists to suspect that frogs…


Before reptiles and mammals appeared to challenge amphibian supremacy on the land, amphibians were much larger. But while…


Horned lizards utilize a few tried-and-true ways of avoiding predators: like many other animals, they blend in with their…


Could it be we have been too good at ridding our bodies of parasitic worms? Believe it or not, our efforts at keeping…


Learning about animals, you can discover many fascinating, even beautiful facts, but there are also things that can give…


Many species of birds migrate when the weather changes, but some species take their journeys to extremes. The Arctic tern…


NAIA - National Animal Interest Alliance Discover Animals is a web-based educational resource offered by the NAIA
To learn more about the NAIA or about other NAIA programs, visit us at www.NAIAOnline.org
if you would like to help, join or support the NAIA or any of its programs please click here >>