No dog has ever lived long enough. Surely such transcendent beings deserve more time on Earth, both for their sake and for their heartbroken humans.
Yet although dog lifespans are too short, they do vary widely by breed. Some breeds rarely live beyond a decade, while others can survive more than a quarter century.
Each individual dog's lifespan depends on many different factors, but overall, smaller breeds tend to live longer.
In a new study, researchers shed light on this phenomenon, revealing genetic insights that might help boost not just dogs' longevity, but also our own.
The durability of small dogs may seem odd, especially since, at the species level, larger mammals generally live longer.
Most mice live just a few years, for example, while humans and elephants routinely reach their 60s, and massive bowhead whales can live for two centuries.
Within a species, however, this correlation between size and lifespan often vanishes or even flips, with smaller adults living longer than big ones.
The same is true for dogs: Large breeds typically grow faster, face a higher risk of age-related diseases, and die younger. Yet despite this pattern's prevalence, the molecular mechanisms behi...