Drbazz said:
Do the atoms in molecules separate quicker if they are moved more vigourously in their lifetime and therefoe cause death of the living organism they makes up sooner? For example: A giant tortoise is slower than a cheatah during its life and lives longer. A tree is slower than a tortoise and lives longer.
If slow speed determines longevity, then I guess Windows Vista will be around forever!
OK, back to science now :)
A gaint tortoise may move slow and have a long lifespan, but a giant bowhead whale moves
faster than the tortoise and has been recorded as having a lifespan
longer than that of the Galápagos tortoise! http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/51.shtml" :
Bowhead whales are believed to be the longest-lived animals on Earth ... and one individual was estimated to be 211 years old.
Look at the *really* slow moving Pale-throated three-toed sloth with its http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/608.shtml" also.
So, there are definitely lots of animals out there that don't fit into your "slower movement = longer lifespan" model. In fact, locomotion speed may not even be correlated with lifespan, as you can see from my example.
Maximum lifespan of an animal, on the other hand, is probably very closely tied to its genetics, especially with http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9055244" :
Thus the activity with which nuclear and
mitochondrial DNA is repaired in somatic cells is likely to be an crucial determinant of maximal lifespan (MLS)