Human Fish Breaks Lifespan Record

A small cave salamander breaks the world's record for the longest living amphibian. this salamander can live over a 100 years old and it is endangered, but reaches an age at zoos and protected environments. they call it the "the human fish" because of the human-like skin tone. in scientific language, the salamander also called olm and Proteus, has a maximum lifespan of over 100 years. that nearly doubles the age of often-elderly amphibians. researchers found that this species become sexually mature at around the age 16 and lays, on average, 35 eggs ever 12.5 years. "what promotes its longevity is probably very low activity, low reproduction, no environmental stress and its peculiar physiology." Voituron, a professor at Claude Bernard Lyon university said. the human fish has a body like a snake up to 16 inches long. its blind with a layer of skin covering its eyes. the human-tone derives from oxygen-rich blood that shows through the slamander's non-pigment skin. it also loos unisex.

This relates to the biology concept because scientist are trying to figure out how the salamander is able to live for so long. Analysis of this, and other elderly animals, might shed light on what promotes longevity in general. The olm seems to fit a pattern, where long lives are dependent upon low-stress, stable environments without predators.

this is something important because if scientist finds out how the salamander lives for so long they can connect that to other animals to make them live longer and reproduce more.

http://news.discovery.com/animals/human-fish-salamander-lifespan.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1