<li>Solid science presented in an entertaining and informative way <li>Filled with fascinating "did you know?" facts about extremely short- and long-lived creatures, as well as those in between <p>A gall midge hatches, breeds, and dies in a 3-hour period. A bowhead whale can live for 200 years, a quahog clam 400. And box huckleberries growing today sprouted some 13,000 years ago. This fact-filled science book explains how and why some 99 animals and plants--including dragonflies, horses, dogs, snakes, humans, tortoises, sequoias, and jellyfish--live as long, or as briefly, as they do.