At 62, albatross hatches a healthy chick
By Allison Bohac
Web edition: February 27, 2013
Enlarge Wisdom, an albatross who is estimated to be 62 years old, tends to her newly hatched chick. She is the oldest known wild bird.
Credit: John Klavitter/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Here?s one new mom with lots of experience ? at least 62 years of it. On February 3, a Laysan albatross named Wisdom hatched a healthy chick on a Pacific island near Hawaii. It was the sixth year in a row this bird had hatched a chick.
Although women may live to be 100 years old or more, few are capable of giving birth after their early to mid-50s. What makes Wisdom so special is that her species normally lives only 12 to 40 years. So not only has she outlived most other Laysan albatrosses by at least two decades, but also she has remained fertile and able to hatch healthy chicks well into her 60s. Scientists are amazed by this feat.
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Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/348631/title/FOR_KIDSOldest_bird_is_new_mom
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