Henry (not pictured) was a Nile crocodile captured in Botswana in 1903. (Image credit: BirdImages/Getty Images)
Today (December 16) the world's oldest crocodile, Henry, celebrates his 124th birthday at a conservation centre in South Africa.
The Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) has been housed at the Crocworld Conservation Centre in Scottburgh, South Africa, since 1985. It was captured in the Okavango Delta in Botswana in 1903.
Henry, now a spry senior resident of Crocworld Conservation Centre, is said to have fathered more than 10,000 cubs with multiple partners since his arrival there nearly 40 years ago.
Although his exact date of birth remains unknown, Crocworld staff estimate that he was born around 1900 and celebrate his birthday on December 16th every year.
“He’s certainly old,” Steven Austad, a biologist who studies animal aging at the University of Alabama, told Live Science. “We don’t know if he’s 100 or 130. 124 is a reasonable age for a crocodile.”
Reptiles are renowned for their impressive longevity. A good guide to an animal's lifespan is usually its size – smaller creatures tend to live shorter lives due to a faster metabolism, which causes them to burn energy and age faster.
However, even compared to other animals of similar size, reptiles tend to live significantly longer. Austad noted that being cold-blooded allows them to conserve energy by relying on external heat sources to regulate their body temperature.
“A crocodile the same size as a human would only need to consume about 4% of the amount of food that a mammal like us requires,” he added.
Crocodiles, like some other reptiles, continue to grow throughout their lives. Henry weighs 1,540 pounds (700 kilograms) and is 16.4 feet (5 meters) long, the largest for his species. Their enormous size protects them from potential predators in old age.
Henry's life in captivity likely also contributed to his longevity by providing him with nutrition and protecting him from accidents and disease.
“Animals that for whatever reason are in a safe environment tend to live longer,” Austad said.
Unlike many other vertebrates, reptiles do not show clear signs of decline in physiological function with age.
Other biological traits may also contribute to Henry’s longevity. Research suggests that proteins found in the blood of Nile crocodiles may have antibacterial properties, helping them fight off infections and diseases. Likewise, some scientists claim that their gut microbiomes may support their robust immune systems.
Studying the aging processes of crocodiles like Henry is challenging, since researchers must capture them as babies, tag them, and then track them throughout their lives. As a result, many theories about the secrets of the reptiles’ longevity remain speculative, as do those about their immune systems and microbiomes, Austad said. “[Crocodiles] live longer than the careers of the scientists studying them,” he concluded.
Jacklyn KwanNaviga
Sourse: www.livescience.com
