Vertebrates are animals with a spine/backbone. If you gently feel your back, you can find the little bumps of your backbone — because humans are vertebrates too. 🌡️ Warm or Cold? Some vertebrates are warm‑blooded like mammals and birds. Their bodies stay warm even when it’s chilly outside. Others are cold‑blooded like reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Their body temperature changes with the…

The scientific name of this species is Myotis sibiricus, but it's commonly known as the Siberian whiskered bat. It has the longest lifespan of any bat in the world, with some individuals living to be more than 40 years old.

This species was originally identified as a subspecies of the Brandt's bat, Myotis brandtii, but genetic studies now confirm that it actually represents its own distinct species.

Above: a Siberian whiskered bat

In 1964, a Siberian whiskered bat was captured, tagged, and released by researchers in the Biryusa region of Siberia, and the exact same bat was later recaptured by another team of scientists in 2005; that specimen was at least 41 years old at the time, and it's still the oldest bat on record. The previous record-holder was another Siberian bat that was at least 38 years old at the time of its capture.

The genus Myotis contains several other species that have been known to live for more than 20 years, but the Siberian whiskered bat has an exceptionally long lifespan, especially compared to other small mammals.

Above: the bats tend to look like fuzzy little potatoes

The longevity of this species (and other long-living bats) defies our conventional understanding of the relationship between an animal's size and its lifespan. Smaller animals typically have a much shorter lifespan compared to larger animals, because they have higher metabolic demands. These bats are a rare exception to that rule.

In fact, the Siberian whiskered bat has the longest lifespan of any mammal relative to its size, with its tiny body measuring just 3-5cm long and weighing 4-8 grams (that's roughly the weight of 3 pennies).

Above: Myotis sibiricus

Research suggests that the bats' longevity could be linked to a mutation in two genes that are related to growth:

Genes for two proteins involved in growth — called growth hormone receptor (GHR) and insulinlike growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) — showed changes that also appear among other long-lived bat species. Previous studies in mice and other animals suggest genetic changes in GHR and IGF1R are linked with longevity. For instance, mice with mutations in GHR live twice as long as normal mice. These same genetic changes also may be responsible for the bats' small size.

Above: this photo shows a group of Siberian whiskered bats roosting together on the roof of a cave

There are several other factors that could also play a role, as this article explains:

Many behaviors have been suggested as influences of how long bats can live, including cave roosting (which may offer protection) and how many pups a female has each year (more is energy draining). A key factor in bat lifespan that is firmly established is hibernation. Comparing bats that do and do not hibernate shows that hibernating bats have a higher longevity quotient.

Comparing the DNA of bats with a high and low longevity quotient also highlights genes that contribute to longevity. These genes control cellular activities like DNA repair, cleaning out cell waste, and tumor suppression.

Above: Siberian whiskered bats

Some articles on this topic still describe the world's longest-living bat as the Brandt's bat, but that claim is based on the outdated assumption that Myotis sibiricus is simply a subspecies of Myotis brandtii. These bats are now recognized as two separate species, which means that Myotis sibiricus is actually the oldest bat species on record.

Above: Myotis sibiricus

This is a corrected version of a post that I published about 2 years ago, with more information, photos, and sources.

Sources & More Info:

Bat Conservation International: Long Live Bats

Cell Metabolism: The World Goes Bats: Living Longer and Tolerating Viruses

Plazi Treatment Bank: Myotis sibiricus

Entomological Review: Ectoparasite Fauna of the Siberian Bat (PDF)

Science: Growing Old, Yet Staying Young: The Role of Telomeres in Bats’ Exceptional Longevity

The Journals of Gerontology: A New Field Record for Bat Longevity

Nature: Genome Analysis Reveals Insights into Physiology and Longevity of the Brandt's Bat

New Scientist: Gene Clues May Explain Why Brandt's Bat Lives So Long

well look who it is...

everything that is ingested by this lovable butterfinger is converted purely into more body length and nothing else. as a result of this they are impressively stupid but also majestically long....so long infact that the long is starting to come out of their face!

however sometimes as a treat they'll use spare nutrients to produce a gross black ink they expel when scared

shlompiness rating: MY BODY IS A MACHINE

source

dolichopteryx longipes is considered by most to be quite the anomalous gal, mostly due to her having sinister and mysterious mirrors next to her eyes!

while she mostly uses them to spot good deals on seafood and look at people from weird and funny angles, when the need comes she does use them for more 'serious' things like egregious multitasking

shlompiness rating: foot 🐘 snout 🐘 ❤️‍🩹

she was as graceful as a wet surfboard, and her skin shimmered beautifully in the light of the sun, like the glimmering surface of a fresh tar pit that had just dissolved a herd of gentle american camelops to the bone. her unusually modified fins and almost nonexistent tail flapped rapidly in an uncoordinated, insect-like manner, and her weirdly vertical mouth looked like the popular 'pog face' meme found commonly on the internet...

shlompiness rating: authors-like

photograph from the NOAA Observer Program?? (wikimedia link)

geotria australis has a big beautiful pouch near his mouth, which he uses for storing his fancy rock collection! he's got many kinds of rocks in there, and it would take me many lifetimes to list even a fraction of them!

don't worry though, the comical amount of rocks inside his sack doesn't impede him from enjoying his other hobbies in any way

shlompiness rating: sack

illustration by W.Wing (?)

it's the legendary sink lamprey!! the only vlogger whose content revolves around going in and out of people's sinks!! infact, she might be in your sink right now!

it's a shame you're too big to fit inside the pipes of a sink, because she's seen many a great and terrifying things inside them, like mucus, lost instruments, teeth and junums and wishes you could come see them too!

shlompiness rating: sink dog