Large dogs die younger because they get older faster, shows a new study.
The discovery could help decipher biological links between growth and mortality, researchers say.
Normally, larger mammalian species live longer than smaller species: for example, elephants living in wildlife can reach the age of 70 when house mice reach 4 years of age. Instead, in a single species, the opposite seems true, something observed in mice, horses, and perhaps even humans.
The cost of exaggerated dimensions is easy to see among dogs, a species that humans have developed in varying sizes. The heaviest dog recognized in history is Zorba, an English mastiff weighing 155 pounds, while the smallest dog in the world is Meysi , a 110-gram terrier.
Large dog breeds die younger than those in which specimens are smaller. For example, the German dog lives on average for 7 years, while a small bichon can live for 14 years.
To study the potential disadvantages of large sizes, researchers analyzed the age of deaths in 74 species using data collected from 56,000 dogs visiting veterinary hospitals. The researchers wanted to find out why large dogs live on average shorter lives.
"The main scientific area that interests me is the evolution of life. Also in my private life I am very passionate about dogs, "said researcher Cornelia Kraus, an evolutionary biologist at Göttingen University in Germany.
Researchers have found that large breeds of dogs are aging at a faster pace. The rate at which the risk of death increased with age was higher for larger breeds than for those of small size. Scientists have found that every 2 kilograms in addition led to a one-month reduction in life expectancy.
"The lives of these dogs seem to be at a faster pace," Kraus explained.
Now, researchers want to analyze the lives of many dogs to identify the main causes of death in large dog species. For example, large quadrupeds seem to suffer from cancer more often, which seems logical; Large dogs grow more than small ones, and cancer is due to abnormal cell development.
"This research could be done on dogs, because we found that dog lovers are very open to research and want to contribute to scientific efforts that have as topic the best friend of man," Kraus commented.
The results of this study were published in the April edition of the American Naturalist Scientific Journal .
Source: LiveScience
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