Ever thought that an animal could just live for 24 hours? Shocking to the fact that the Mayfly just lives for 24 hours or lesser holding the topmost rank in shortest living animals on earth. Unfortunately, these animals cannot survive with us for too long. There is an uncountable number of species around the world having a lifespan over hundreds of years and some living just for months. We have come up with the 7 incredibly short living animals who have no much time to spend on earth.
Chameleon, 5 years
One alluring animal with impeccable camouflaging technique is unfortunately short living animal on earth. There are about 202 species of chameleons described as of 2015. They are capable of changing color to blend with the environment. On average, they live up to 5 years depending on the parasitic loads that they contain in them. Most of the chameleon experiences premature death because of excess problematic accumulation of parasites in them. These parasites can cause stress and dehydration, which can reduce life expectancy. If chosen as a pet, they should be handled with intense care and the chances of thriving them too far with lifespan would become less with inexperienced keepers.
House Mouse, 8 months
House mouse is the most common animal found on earth. People even use the house mouse as pets and there are 30 known species till date. Most probably, a mouse lives less than a year due to extreme weather conditions. Another reason for less life expectancy as they fall as prey for domestic cats. Further, a mouse can live up to three years grown in a very composed and maintained external environment. Longest living mouse recorded till date was a genetically engineered mouse, which lived for 1,819 days.
Worker Bees, 8 weeks
Worker Bees are the female bees, which lacks the full reproductive capability. It can live up a few weeks to months depending on the external weather conditions. Additionally, they maintain about 34.4-degree Celsius temperature inside the hive to incubate the eggs. Depending on external weather conditions, the worker bees either deposit chill water around the hive or generate body heat to maintain warm conditions. Unlike the ants, the bee family as well consists of a bee queen, which can live up to five years. Most of the worker bees are born in the autumn that continues to live only till the following spring.
Monarch Butterfly, 6 weeks
The ironic situation for a Monarch butterfly happens to be one of the beautiful among the animal family but can live up to six weeks. It is considered as the most recognized one from North America and has been encountered since 1871 in Australia and New Zealand. Monarch by the name signifies “the king” under butterfly family. One shocking fact about Monarch butterflies is that they can fly thousands of kilometers as part of migration and travel in the right directions. Usually, they tend to migrate to Mexico after spending either summer or winter to survive the rest spring season in northern regions.
The Housefly, 4 weeks
The housefly, as the name says, is an insect found mostly in houses, which was evolved in the Cenozoic era similarly as a commensal of humans from the Middle East. A fully-grown adult can live up to just 4 weeks. About 8 mm in length, a female housefly can lay up to batches of 100 eggs at a time on organic wastes such as food or fecal matters. Over a period of housefly lifespan, the female ones can lay 500 eggs. The insect is almost found everywhere on earth with distributions from almost the whole of the world.
Gastrotrich, 3 days
Gastrotrich is a microscopic worm-like animal found in freshwater and marine areas. About 3 mm in length, the animal’s lifespan lasts just for three days. They normally tend to feed on dead and living organisms. Further, their body plan is simple with just head, brain, gut, reproductive and sensory organs. For reproduction, Gastrotrich uses a special tubular like structure to get attached to other organisms for the reproduction process. The eggs will be hatched in less than four days in perfect environmental conditions. Usually, it is considered that they are even capable of surviving in dry pools and stagnant areas apart from freshwater habitations.
Mayfly, 24 hours
Mayfly is by far considered as the shortest living animals on earth, which have a lifespan of just 24 hours. The insect belongs to the category under aquatic animals that includes even dragonfly and damselflies. Mayfly’s immature form of life is produced in the aquatic areas in almost completely clean freshwater. Basically, they are recognized as “nymphs”. There are about 3000 species under Mayfly, and the lifespan of each can just vary between 30 minutes and one day. Very shocking to know that the insect doesn’t consist of mouthparts and the primary intent of life being is for reproduction. Further, Dolania Americana is by far considered as the shortest living species under mayflies with just five minutes of lifespan.
