The Immortal Bird?

November 10, 2012 in New Birds, Petrels and Avian Extreme with 2 comments

Leach's Storm-Petrels live a remarkably long life for being so small. A lifespan of up to 36 years is not unheard of for this pelagic (sea-dwelling) species. This is about 25 years longer than would be expected for a bird this size! Why is this? Telomeres are pieces of DNA that alleviate cell division and oxidation. Longer telomeres usually occur in younger living things; telomeres typically shorten as aging occurs. However, the telomeres in Leach's Storm Petrels appear to actually grow with age. Does this mean that Leach's Storm-Petrels are immortal? In theory, maybe. But the birds still die. Their remarkable cell structure is an interesting source of study for scientists. Leach's Storm Petrel was added to Birdorable on October 13, 2012. If you can't get enough of this cute, little, and possibly immortal pelagic bird, be sure to check out our range of Leach's Storm Petrel gifts and apparel! Further reading:

Comments

Louise Warner on February 16, 2017 at 4:08 PM wrote:

i thought it was the African grey parrot...

Spurwing Plover on July 15, 2020 at 2:37 AM wrote:

Storm Petrels Mother Carrries Chickens some see these birds were the souls of drowned Seamen

Comments with links or HTML will be deleted. Your comment will be published pending approval.

Your name (required)

Your email address (required)

Your email address will not be published

Comment (required)

I agree to receive updates and news from Birdorable

You can unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For more information on how to unsubscribe, our privacy practices, and how we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy, please review our Privacy Policy. By clicking submit below, you consent to allow Birdorable to store and process the personal information submitted above to provide you the content requested.

2014 Bonanza Bird #6: Ring-billed Gull

November 21, 2014

The 6th bird in our 2014 Bonanza is a familiar species of gull. It's the Ring-billed Gull! The Ring-billed Gull is a "white-headed" medium-sized species of gull found across much of North America....

2015 Bonanza Bird #13: Collared Flycatcher

December 13, 2015

Our Birdorable Bonanza: 2015 Advent Edition continues today with a pretty black-and-white flycatcher from the Old World: the Collared Flycatcher! The Collared Flycatcher is a pretty black-and-white species of songbird found in the Old World. These flycatchers are migratory; they breed across...

Warbler FAQs

May 23, 2018

We're celebrating warblers this week! Today we're sharing a few FAQs about this family of birds. What is a warbler? The name warbler is used to describe several different, unrelated, families of birds. So far, for Warbler Week, we have been talking about New World warblers, a...

2015 Bonanza Bird #7: Fire-tufted Barbet

December 7, 2015

Today our Birdorable Bonanza: 2015 Advent Edition continues with an Asian species of barbet: the Fire-tufted Barbet! The Fire-tufted Barbet is one of 26 species of Asian barbets, which are found from Tibet to Indonesia. Birds in this family, Megalaimidae, are generally...

Birdorable Blog