Longevity Record Research Articles

Seasonal migrations and morphometry of the European Nightjar according to long-term (1957–2016) trapping and ringing in the Eastern Baltic

The results of trapping, measuring the size and weight of the body of the European Nightjar, as well as migration routes according to the data of the ringing in the Kaliningrad region during 1957–2016 are discussed. The annual number of migrating birds has fluctuated significantly for 60 years, and the number of those caught and ringed varied from one to 44 individuals in different years. They were most numerous in May, in the period 1969–1981. Four ring recoveries of Nightjars ringed by us were obtained, which gives the effectiveness of ringing of this species with nocturnal activity of only 0.92%. However, these ringing results indicate that in autumn the migration routes of Nightjar population from the western parts of Scandinavia and from southern Finland run through the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, and later, on the way to Africa, their azimuth of flight varies from 178° to 203°. The longevity record according to the data from one male of the subspecies Caprimulgus europaeus zarudny E. Hartert, 1912 was 15 years. The migration routes of this species are discussed according to the latest literature data.

A new longevity record for a wild European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) from South Australia

A population of wild European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) was regularly monitored from November 1996 to April 2022, using mark–recapture as part of a longitudinal epidemiological study into two Australian rabbit biocontrol agents, rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) and myxomatosis. A female rabbit, first captured as a subadult on 26 October 2009, was recaptured 16 times before its final capture on 19 February 2019. The longevity of this rabbit, from its calculated birth date to the date of its last capture, was 9.5 years. This is a record lifespan for a wild European rabbit – acknowledging that such longevity might be specific to our site in temperate South Australia. It exceeds our previous reported record from the same site by 2 years.

Length, weight, and longevity record for Micrurus frontalis (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854).

Length, weight, and longevity record for Micrurus frontalis (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854).

Notes on the natural history of Cloud-forest Pygmy-Owls (Glaucidium nubicola) in Ecuador

This study reports on findings about the natural history of the Cloud-forest Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium nubicola). Recently described as a species, the general ecology of the Cloud-forest Pygmy-Owl remains poorly documented. Three banded individuals at a private reserve in the province of Pichincha, Ecuador, are used to describe its habitat use, diet items, and individual longevity. Our observations suggest this local population prefers wet primary cloud forest and appears to have a generalist diet. Multiple recaptures of a banded individual indicate a longevity record of 5 years. Additionally, ectoparasites were found on 2 out of 3 captured individuals.

Longevity record verified in an Egyptian vulture

Longevity record verified in an Egyptian vulture

Doubling the longevity record of the American Three-toed Woodpecker (Picoides dorsalis)

The American Three-toed Woodpecker (Picoides dorsalis) is a relatively poorly known species due to its remote northern distribution, the low density of its populations, and its cryptic behavior. In this article, we report the observation of an 11-year-old individual, nearly 2 times older than the previous record for the species. This longevity is similar to values reported for the closely related Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker (P. tridactylus). We report on the observation of a male that was captured, aged, color-banded, and photographed in 2010, and photographed again when it was resighted in 2019. This finding has potential implications for the modeling of population viability and the possibility of extinction debt in marginal habitat.

The “Frozen, Darkened Soul” Rises into Space: Travels in Siberia and the Plight of Life on Earth

Starting in 2006, the author joined and then led field expeditions to central Siberia in search of answers to the greatest murder mystery in the history of Earth: the end-Permian extinction. The rocks that yielded answers were the same kinds of volcanic lavas that can be seen at night on the Moon, or in photos of Mars or Venus. The unyielding Russian engineering that owns the longevity record on the surface of Venus is now used to launch cosmonauts and astronauts from the other end of those same Siberian steppes. Not the data—not the years nor the numbers nor the temperature—but art, as Solzhenitsyn explained, is the only way to reach the heart and soften our pace as we move into another age of space exploration, this time as humans, the author hopes, and not as nations.

Twelve-year-old Star Finch Neochmia ruficauda in the wild: Significant new longevity record

Although finches in captivity may live for ≥10 years, banding data suggest that Australian finches in the wild rarely live >5–6 years. For example, the previous longevity record for the Star Finch Neochmia ruficauda subclarescens is 4 years 2.1 months. In 2009, 557 juvenile Star Finches were colour-banded in Wyndham, Western Australia. In 2021, one of those birds was photographed near the banding site. This bird was in its 13th year of life

Longevity Records of Japanese Birds from Bird Banding Data (Top Two Records of Each Species in 1961–2017)

Longevity Records of Japanese Birds from Bird Banding Data (Top Two Records of Each Species in 1961–2017)

Longevity Records of Five Male Little Brown Bats (Myotis lucifugus) in Northwest Wisconsin

Although bats are highly transient and secretive animals, banding allows biologists to track the longevity of these mammals and their return rates to various roosts. For its mass, Myotis lucifugus (Little Brown Bat) is extremely long-lived, with multiple records exceeding 30 y of age. We report 9 longevity records from 5 male Little Brown Bats, found during hibernation in northwest Wisconsin, that were at least 18–32 y of age at the time of recapture. Extreme longevity records, like those reported here, may no longer be discovered, due to an introduced fungal disease, white-nose syndrome, that has caused mass mortality in species of hibernating bats in North America.

Remarkable recapture of a Common Whitethroat Curruca communis almost 19 years after ringing

ABSTRACT A new longevity record has been registered for the Common Whitethroat Curruca communis, with a bird recaptured in Italy 18 years and 11 months from the date of ringing. This exceeds the previous longevity record by almost 10 years. A comparison is made with records of known longevity for other species of small passerine birds. The possible migratory routes and the total distances travelled by the bird are discussed.

Survival and longevity of a White-tipped Dove (Leptotila verreauxi) population in south Texas

The White-tipped Dove (Leptotilaverreauxi) is an understudied, secretive, game species in south Texas. We banded White-tipped Doves over a 2-year period in Estero Llano Grande State Park (ELGSP) near Weslaco, Texas. We used recent banding information to estimate the first annual survival and recovery rate information for this species in the United States. We collected morphological measurements of captured individuals in June and July 2015 and 2016. We documented a new longevity record for the species in 2016. The individual was a minimum of 9 years and 1 month at encounter as it was first banded in ELGSP in 2008 as an afterhatch-year individual. Our morphological measurements were within the range reported in previous studies. Preliminary annual survival estimates indicate higher annual survival than other Columbidae and low recovery rates.

Record longevity of a Spotted Turtle (<i>Clemmys guttata</i>)

Turtles are known for their longevity, but the maximum life span for many species remains unknown. Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata) can live for more than 30 years in the wild, but typical or maximum longevity has not been confirmed. As part of a long-term mark–recapture project in Ottawa, Ontario, near the species’ northern limit, an adult female was captured on 27 April 2017. It had first been marked on 11 June 1983, when it was an adult with 17 growth rings on its plastron. Based on the number of growth rings at first capture, and the intervening time, this turtle is a minimum of 51 years old, setting a longevity record for the species. Ten individuals in this population were at least 30 years old when last captured, including a male at least 41 years old. Few of these turtles have grown measurably since being marked in 1983, and it is likely that these minimum ages are underestimates of actual ages.

Survival estimates for the greater crested tern Thalasseus bergii in southern Africa

The nominate race of the greater crested tern Thalasseus bergii breeds only along the coast of the Benguela region (west coast) of southern Africa, where its population is increasing, in contrast to other species of breeding seabirds in the region which similarly depend on forage fish. Although this population’s trends are well known, its demographic parameters remain obscure. We used multi-event capture–recapture–recovery modelling to provide the first estimates of survival. The survival rate of birds older than two years was 0.93 (0.91–0.95); second-year survival was 0.93 (0.90–0.95) and first-year survival was 0.80 (0.73–0.85). A resighting of a 34-year-old bird is a new longevity record for the species. Population growth rates projected with a Leslie matrix model that included our survival estimates were very similar to estimates from annual counts of the breeding population (7–8% y−1), suggesting that these survival estimates adequately describe the species’ demography. High survival rates have likely contributed to the species’ recent population increase in the region.

Longevity summary from 69 years of Estrildidae ringing data in southern Africa

This study focuses on the longevity data accumulated for the family Estrildidae, specifically exploring longevity records for each species using ringing data. Longevity is the minimum age reached by an individual as determined by the time elapsed between initial ringing and last recapture or recovery date. In southern Africa bird ringing started in 1948 and is managed by the South African Bird Ringing Scheme. For estrildids, there are 151 831 ringing records. Approximately 7.0% of those ringed individuals have since been resighted, retrapped or recovered. This family is poorly studied and more research is necessary, particularly as certain estrildid species have been highlighted as data-deficient whilst others are potentially of conservation concern. The South African Bird Ringing scheme (SAFRING) has longevity records for 23 of the 27 southern Africa estrildid species. The maximum longevity record was 10.9 years (Blue Waxbill Uraeginthus angolensis). The overall average longevity for an individual is 3.7 years (SD = 2.5). The low longevity values make sense given the low mass (6.3–22.7 g) of estrildids. Coupled with large clutch sizes of four eggs on average, as well as potentially low surivival, estrildids may counter low longevity by breeding at an early age and double-brooding.

BJOG Editor-in-Chief number 8: James Young 1943-1963.

James Young was born in Edinburgh on 24 April 1883 and graduated MB ChB with first class honours from Edinburgh University in 1905. In 1910 he was awarded the gold medal for his MD thesis Reproduction of the Human Female, later published as a book. He self-funded cancer research, suggesting that a form of ‘pleomorphic bacterium’ isolated from 34 human cancers might be carcinogenic; it would be more than 50 years before the herpes virus was suggested as the cause of cervical cancer. However, he found more acceptance of his research into the causes of eclampsia, considered to be ‘a poison or toxin’ released by infarctions in the placenta (hence the term ‘pre-eclamptic toxaemia’). His comprehensive review of the topic was published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine in 1914, following which his studies were interrupted by involvement in military campaigns in Gallipoli, Egypt, Palestine and France, about which he wrote a book, With the 52nd division in three continents. He reached the rank of lieutenant colonel, was twice mentioned in dispatches and in 1919 was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He developed his clinical practice in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and the Simpson Memorial Maternity Hospital. His 1929 paper in the British Medical Journal highlighted the recurrence of pre-eclampsia in successive pregnancies; he concluded that ‘in view of the large risk of recurrence the need for antenatal supervision from an early stage in the event of the subsequent pregnancy should be clearly explained to the patient’. More controversially, he opined that ‘toxaemia in two or more pregnancies is an indication for the prevention of any further pregnancy’. In 1934 he was elected to a professorship in the University of London at the newly created British Postgraduate Medical School at Hammersmith (later to become the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology), subsequently concentrating on training, teaching and writing. In 1937 he was appointed assistant editor of our Journal, becoming joint Editor in 1943 and Editor-in-Chief from 1946 until 1963 – a record for editorial longevity. His Textbook of Gynaecology ran to 11 editions. His administrative responsibilities included being Governor of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the National Birthday Trust. He was elected honorary Fellow of the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and a corresponding Fellow of the German Gynaecological Society. He piloted the Journal through its acquisition by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 1950 (following which, for the first time, the editor was paid a salary), was widely read and wrote in a literary style that contrasts with the minimalist orthodoxy of modern scientific writing. He regarded fundamental experimental investigations as ‘gold compared with the trash of case records…while an intensive study of ten cases may be rewarding, the study of 1000 cases of the same condition is in its nature likely to be perfunctory and sterile’. A strict but kindly man, he enjoyed sharing music with his wife, daughter, stepdaughter and two stepsons. He died in the year that he demitted office as Editor. None declared. Completed disclosure of interests form available to view online as supporting information. Image is available online as supporting information to the article.

Satellite-tagged Osprey Nearly Sets Longevity Record and Productivity Response to Initial Captures

Satellite-tagged Osprey Nearly Sets Longevity Record and Productivity Response to Initial Captures

Greenland shark may live 400 years, smashing longevity record

Greenland shark may live 400 years, smashing longevity record

Report Touts White House Science Impact

The Obama administration also announced a milestone for White House science adviser John Holdren, who on 18 June set a new record for longevity in the science advisory role.

Managing an ‘Army of Peoples’: Identity, Command and Performance in the Habsburg Officer Corps, 1914–1918

AbstractThis article examines the officers who led the Habsburg Army during the First World War. It highlights the complexity of their identities, demonstrating that this went well beyond the a-national – nationalist dichotomy in much historiography. It also argues that these officers' identities had a profound impact on how their army functioned in the field. The article first studies the senior command in 1914–16, showing how its wartime learning processes were shaped by transnational attitudes. These officers had belonged in peace to an international military professional network. When disaster befell their army at the outset of the First World War, it was natural for them to seek lessons from foreign armies, at first from their major enemies, the Russians, and later their German allies. The second half of the article explores the changing loyalties of the reserve officers tasked with frontline command in the later war years. It contends that the officer corps' focus on maintaining social and educational standards resulted in an influx of middle-class junior leaders whose conditional commitment to the Empire and limited language skills greatly influenced the Habsburg Army's record of longevity but mediocre combat performance.