AnAge entry for Pongo pygmaeus

Classification (HAGRID: 02792)

Taxonomy: Kingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Chordata
        Class: Mammalia (Taxon entry)
            Order: Primates (Taxon entry)
                Family: Hominidae
                    Genus: Pongo
Species: Pongo pygmaeus
Common name: Orangutan

Lifespan, ageing, and relevant traits

Maximum longevity: 59 years (captivity)
Source: ref. 671
Sample size: Large
Data quality: Acceptable
Observations: Like other great apes, orangutans appear to be long-lived. Even in the wild, these animals might live more than 50 years. One field study conducted in the /abelii/ subspecies estimated maximum longevity in the wild to be at least 58 years for males and at least 53 years for females without any evidence of menopause [0737]. One wild born male was about 59 years old when he died in captivity [0671]. Some authors consider /Pongo pygmaeus abelii/ to be a separate species.

Life history traits (averages)

Female sexual maturity: 2,555 days
Male sexual maturity: 2,555 days
Gestation: 249 days
Weaning: 1,003 days
Litter size: 1 (viviparous)
Litters per year: 0.2
Inter-litter interval: 1,414 days
Weight at birth: 1,737 g
Weight at weaning: 11,000 g
Adult weight: 64,475 g
Postnatal growth rate: 0.0009 days^-1 (from Gompertz function)
Maximum longevity residual: 221%

Metabolism

No information on metabolism is available.

References

[1231] Lowenstine et al. (2016), Comparative Pathology of Aging Great Apes: Bonobos, Chimpanzees, Gorillas, and Orangutans (PubMed)
[1116] Weiss et al. (2012), Evidence for a midlife crisis in great apes consistent with the U-shape in human well-being (PubMed)
[1136] Gomes et al. (2011), Comparative biology of mammalian telomeres: hypotheses on ancestral states and the roles of telomeres in longevity determination (PubMed)
[0757] Anderson et al. (2008), Fertility and mortality patterns of captive Bornean and Sumatran orangutans: is there a species difference in life history? (PubMed)
[1142] Kohler et al. (2006), Comparative mortality levels among selected species of captive animals
[0671] Richard Weigl (2005), Longevity of Mammals in Captivity; from the Living Collections of the World
[0737] Wich et al. (2004), Life history of wild Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) (PubMed)
[0610] Ernest (2003), Life history characteristics of placental non-volant mammals
[0681] Peter Kappeler and Michael Pereira (2003), Primate Life Histories and Socioecology
[0214] Maggioncalda and Sapolsky (2002), Disturbing behaviors of the orangutan (PubMed)
[0108] Steinert et al. (2002), Telomere biology and cellular aging in nonhuman primate cells (PubMed)
[0467] Lindenfors (2002), Sexually antagonistic selection on primate size
[0434] Ronald Nowak (1999), Walker's Mammals of the World
[0215] Gearing et al. (1997), beta-Amyloid (A beta) deposition in the brains of aged orangutans (PubMed)
[0164] Holleschau and Rathbun (1994), The effects of age on glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase activities in lenses of Old World simians and prosimians (PubMed)
[0455] Virginia Hayssen et al. (1993), Asdell's Patterns of Mammalian Reproduction: A Compendium of Species-Specific Data
[0075] Selkoe et al. (1987), Conservation of brain amyloid proteins in aged mammals and humans with Alzheimer's disease (PubMed)
[0680] Wootton (1987), The effects of body mass, phylogeny, habitat, and trophic level on mammalian age at first reproduction
[0679] Harvey and Clutton-Brock (1985), Life-history variation in primates
[0731] Zullinger et al. (1984), Fitting sigmoid equations to mammalian growth curves
[0059] Tolmasoff et al. (1980), Superoxide dismutase: correlation with life-span and specific metabolic rate in primate species (PubMed)
[0436] Cutler (1979), Evolution of human longevity: a critical overview (PubMed)

External Resources

Integrated Taxonomic Information System: ITIS 573083
Animal Diversity Web: ADW account
Encyclopaedia of Life: Search EOL
NCBI Taxonomy: Taxonomy ID 9600
Entrez: Search all databases
Ageing Literature: Search Google Scholar or Search PubMed
Images: Google Image search
Internet: Search Google