Naked Science Forum
General Science => Question of the Week => Topic started by: thedoc on 12/10/2007 13:27:54
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I know that all mammals (except humans) live the same number of heartbeats (about 1.5 Trillion). However, my Blue and Gold macaw has a resting heartbeat 10X mine and a life expectancy of 80 years, in other words roughly equivalent to an elephant or large whale. Why is that? What is different about the avian heart that gives it such a long life?
Asked by Mike, Leeds & Bert Latamore
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We put this question to Neil Forbes, a specialist in bird medicine and the president of the European College of Avian Medicine & Surgery, based at Great Western Exotic Vets in Swindon.
A little bit of explanation. The questioner suggests that his bird’s heartrate is 10 x his own and I think that, as in many of these cases, some of these figures are wrong. The resting heartrate of a macaw is published to be 127, rising to 350 when being restrained or upset or in flight. And the recommended lifespan of a macaw is 35-50 years as opposed to the 80 years which is suggested. Now taking those figures, that would work out with a heartbeat of 4.3-6.2 x 10^9 so, in fact, far less than the 1.5 trillion suggested. In reality I think the honest answer is that actually birds have less heartbeats than mammals and that isn’t a surprise at all. The metabolic rate of a bird is significantly faster than a mammal. Rather similar to a car engine running a bit faster than another car and as such you would expect them to run out a bit sooner than a mammal, rather than a bit later.
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ok, well nobody else has had a guess so i may as well.
Birds, i know can have a heart beat of up to 1000 beats per minute. I guess this is something to do with all of the exurtion of flight. Those that live at higher altitude have (i think) larger hearts and a faster beat.
so, is is something to do with the muscles of the heart? Do they have extra strong heart muscles and or tissue? i really have no idea, but i do like it that we can now try and contribute to the question of the week.
I just wish this had started on the weeks when i did know the answer!
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I know that all mammals (except humans) live the same number of heartbeats (about 1.5 Trillion). However, my Blue and Gold macaw has a resting heartbeat 10X mine and a life expectancy of 80 years, in other words roughly equivalent to an elephant or large whale. Why is that? What is different about the avian heart that gives it such a long life?
Asked by Mike, Leeds & Bert Latamore
I think it to be bizarre to count age by heartbeats. There are so many things to consider other than what may be construded as ''a predermined amount of heartbeats.''