TABLE 1.
Overview of alternative animal models.
| Common name | Latin name | Taxonomy (Phylum, Class) | Adult body mass | Conservation status [1] | Genome sequenced (size, quality, # protein-coding genes) | Transcriptome available | Life span | Expected life span* | Laboratory husbandry effort |
| Laboratory mouse | Mus musculus | Chordata, mammalia | 20–35 g [2] | LC | 2.6-Gb; 47x; 30,000 [3] | 10 tissues [4] | 2-3, max. 3.8 y [5] | 0.51 [5] | Small [6] |
| Laboratory rat | Rattus norvegicus domestica | Chordata, mammalia | 250-550 g [7] | LC | 2.75-Gb; 7x; 22,841 [8] | 11 tissues [9] | 2-3, max. 4 y [10] | 0.32 [5] | Small [6] |
| Common fruit fly | Drosophila melanogaster | Arthropoda, insecta | 0.8–1.3 mg [11] | n.n. | 120-Mb; whole-genome shotgun; 13,600 [12] | 5 tissues; 30 dev. Stages [e.g., 13] | 60 – 80 d [14] | - | Small [15] |
| Roundworm | Caenorhabditis elegans | Nematoda, chromadorea | 1μg [16] | n.n. | 97-Mb; 6x; 19,099 [17] | 4 tissues [18] | 14 – 21 d [19] | - | Small [15] |
| Capuchin monkey | Cebus imitator | Chordata, mammalia | 2.7-3.7 kg [20] | VU | 2.6-Gb; 47x; 20,740 [21] | - | 55 y [22] | High [23] | |
| Rhesus monkey | Macaca mulatta | Chordata, mammalia | 6.3-11.4kg [24] | LC | 2.87-Gb; 5x; 21,256 [25] | 11 tissues [26] | 40 y [27] | High [28] | |
| Common marmoset | Callithrix jacchus | Chordata, mammalia | 400 g [29] | LC | 2.26-Gb; 6x; 21,168 [30] | 4 tissues [31] | 22 y [32] | Medium to high [33] | |
| Bowhead whale | Balaena mysticetus | Chordata, mammalia | 50 to > 100 t [34] | LC | 2.87-2.91 Gb; 150x; 22,672 [35] | 3 tissues [36] | 211 y [37] | Longest-lived mammal [37] | Impossible |
| Mechow’s mole-rat | Fukomys mechowii | Chordata, mammalia | 345 g (M) 252 g (F) [38] | LC | - | 5 tissues [10] | 20 y [39] | 1.94 [39] | Medium [40] |
| Naked mole rat | Heterocephalus glaber | Chordata, mammalia | 33.9 ± 4.9 g [41] | LC | 2.7-Gb; > 20 x; 22,561 [42] | 10 tissues [43] | 32 y [44] | 5 [45] | Medium [46] |
| Brandt’s bat | Myotis brandtii | Chordata, mammalia | 7 g [47] | LC | 2.0 Gb; whole-genome shotgun; 22,256 [48] | 3 tissues [48] | 41 y [49] | 9.8 [49] | Difficult [50] |
| Budgerigar | Melopsittacus undulatus | Chordata, aves | 40 g [51] | LC | 1.1 Gb; 160x; 15,470 [52] | 1 tissue [53] | > 20 [54] | >1 [55]; reproductive life span 5x rats/mice [51] | Small[56] |
| Northern fulmar | Fulmarus glacialis | Chordata, aves | 650-1000 g [57] | LC | 1.14 Gb; 33x; 14306 [52] | - | > 50 [51]; Mean 30 y [58] | Ages more slowly than humans [59] | Medium to high [60] |
| Japanese quail | Coturnix japonica | Chordata, aves | 100 g [51] | NT | 1.75 Gb; 172x; 30,810 [61] | 7 tissues [62] | 6 y, max. 11 y [51] | short-lived for birds [51] | Small [63] |
| Blanding’s Turtle | Emydoidea blandingii | Chordata, reptilia | 750-1400 g [64] | EN | - | - | 75 y [65] | 37 [65] | Medium [66] |
| Painted Turtle | Chrysemys picta | Chordata, reptilia | 600 g [67] | LC | 2.59-Gb;18x; 21,796 [68] | 1 tissue [69] | 40 y [67] | 15-25 [67] | Medium [66] |
| Axolotl | Ambystoma mexicanum | Chordata, amphibia | 60–110 g [70] | CR | 32-Gb, 7x; 23,251 [71] | 16 tissues [72] | 10-15 y; max. 25 y [70] | > 1 [70] | Small [70] |
| Olm | Proteus anguinus | Chordata, amphibia | 15–20 g [73] | VU | In progress [74] | In progress [74] | Ø 68.5 y, max > 100 y [75] | 3 [75] | Difficult [73] |
| Mudpuppy | Necturus maculosus | Chordata, amphibia | 50-400 g [76] | LC | - | - | up to 30 y [77] | > 1 [77] | Small [78] |
| Turquoise killifish | Nothobranchius furzeri | Chordata, osteichthyes | 3 g [79] | LC | 1.24 Gb; 158x; 26,141 [80] | 3 tissues [79; 81] | 9 (max. 12) weeks [82]; 3-7 months [83] | < 1 [66] shortest captive lifespan for a vertebrate [84] | Small [85] |
| Clownfish | Amphiprion ocellaris | Chordata, osteichthyes | 2-24 g [86] | n.n. | 791 - 794 Mb; 3x; 27 420 [87] | Whole-body, 1 tissue [87,88] | > 20 y [89] | >1 [89] | Medium [90] |
| Greenland shark | Somniosus microcephalus | Chordata, chondrichthyes | 140 kg [91] | NT | - | - | 392 ± 120 y [92] | Longest-lived vertebrate [92,93] | Impossible |
| Octopus | Octopus vulgaris | Mollusca, Cephalopoda | 175-3,500 g [94] | LC | 2.4-Gb; 76x; 23,509 [95] | 5 tissues [96] | 1 y [97] | Medium [98] | |
| Red sea urchin | Strongylocentrotus franciscanus | Echinodermata, Echinoidea | 497.8 ± 32.6 g [99] | n.n. | 0.6 Gb; 83x [100] | Developmental [101] | 200 y [102] | one of the longest-lived sea urchin[103]/animal species [104] | Medium [105] |
| Green sea urchin | Lytechinus variegatus | Echinodermata, Echinoidea | 19.5 ± 2.0 g [106] | n.n. | 1.3 Gb; 74x [100,107] | Developmental [108] | Average 3 y, max. 4 y [109] | < 1 [95] | Medium [105] |
| Ocean quahog clam | Arctica islandica – Iceland | Mollusca, bivalvia | 39-90 g [110] | n.n. | - | 2 tissues [111] | Max. 507 y [112] | > 1; Longest-lived non-colonial animal [112] | Small [113] |
| Planarian | Schmidtea mediterranea | Platyhelminthes, rhabditophora | 17-57 μg [114] | n.n. | 782.1 Mb; 60x [115] | All cell types [116] | Non-aging [115] | - | Small [117] |
| Hydra | Hydra vulgaris/H. magnipapillata | Cnidaria, hydrozoa | 2 × 10–4 g [118] | n.n. | 0.9-1.05 Gb; 2x; 20,000 [119] | All tissues [120] | Potentially eternal (5% > 1000y) [121] | - | Small [122] |
*For mammals: Maximum lifespan divided by expected maximum lifespan (based on the body weight) according to AnAge data and formula (Tacutu et al., 2018); for other species: Different formulas/rationales for expected lifespan as indicated in the respective references. [1]IUCN, 2020; [2]Dutta and Sengupta, 2016; [3]e.g., Waterston and Pachter, 2002; [4]e.g., Harr et al., 2016; [5]Sahm et al., 2018b; [6]National Research Council, 2010; [7]Sengupta, 2013; [8]e.g., Gibbs and Pachter, 2004; [9]e.g., Ji et al., 2020; [10]Sahm et al., 2018a; [11]Kammerer and Young, 1983; [12]Adams et al., 2000; [13]e.g., Graveley et al., 2011; Dobson et al., 2018; [14]Bjedov et al., 2010; [15]Smith et al., 2011; [16]Muschiol et al., 2009; [17]C. elegans Sequencing Consortium, 1998; [18]e.g., Kaletsky et al., 2018; [19]Lapierre and Hansen, 2012; [20]Jack et al., 2014; [21]Orkin et al., 2021; [22]Hakeem et al., 1996; [23]Anderson and Visalberghi, 2010; Schapiro, 2000; [24]Ramsey et al., 2000; [25]Gibbs et al., 2007; [26]Magness et al., 2005; [27]Tigges et al., 1988; Dyke et al., 1986; [28]Schapiro, 2000; [29]Hearn, 1983; [30]Marmoset Genome Sequencing and Analysis Consortium, 2014; [31]Shimizu et al., 2014; [32]Ross et al., 2017; [33]Layne and Power, 2003; [34]Ma and Gladyshev, 2017; Wêsławski et al., 2000; [35]Keane et al., 2015; [36]Seim et al., 2014; [37]George et al., 1999; [38]Scharff et al., 2001; [39]Dammann et al., 2011; [40]Kott et al., 2016; [41]Brett, 1991; [42]Kim et al., 2011; Keane et al., 2014; [43]Yu et al., 2011; Bens et al., 2016; Bens et al., 2018; [44]Ruby et al., 2018; [45]Edrey et al., 2011; [46]Petry, 2003; [47]Munshi-South and Wilkinson, 2010; [48]Seim et al., 2013; Bat 1K, https://bat1k.ucd.ie/, Jebb et al., 2020; [49]Podlutsky et al., 2005; [50]Racey, 1970; [51]Holmes and Ottinger, 2003; [52]Zhang et al., 2014; [53]Künstner et al., 2010; [54]Kamara et al., 2007; [55]Pamplona et al., 2005; [56]Eatwell and Taylor, 2000; [57]Fisher, 1952; [58]Mallory et al., 2012; [59]de Magalhães, 2006; [60]McWilliams, 2008; [61]Kawahara-Miki et al., 2013; Morris et al., 2020; [62]Oster et al., 2020; Finseth and Harrison, 2014; Caetano-Anolles et al., 2015; Marasco et al., 2016; [63]Huss et al., 2008; [64]Congdon et al., 2001; [65]Congdon et al., 2008; [66]Johnson, 2004; [67]Congdon et al., 2003; [68]Shaffer et al., 2013; [69]Manshack et al., 2017; [70]Vladimirova et al., 2003; Farkas and Monaghan, 2015; Vieira et al., 2020; [71]Nowoshilow et al., 2018; [72]Bryant et al., 2017; [73]Holtze et al., 2017; [74]Mulec, 2020; [75]Voituron et al., 2011; [76]Van Devalk and Coleman, 2010; [77]Bonin et al., 1995; [78]Bancroft, 1980; [79]Fumagalli et al., 2020; [80]Reichwald et al., 2015; Valenzano et al., 2015; [81]Petzold et al., 2013; [82]Genade et al., 2005; [83]Platzer and Englert, 2016; [84]Di Cicco et al., 2011; [85]Dodzian et al., 2018; [86]Khoo et al., 2018; [87]Tan et al., 2018; [88]Yang et al., 2019; [89]Sahm et al., 2019; [90]Olivotto et al., 2011; Pryor et al., 2020; [91]Rusyaev and Orlov, 2013; [92]Nielsen et al., 2016; [93]Ste-Marie et al., 2020; [94]Giménez and García, 2002; [95]Zarrella et al., 2019; [96]Zhang et al., 2012; Castellanos-Martínez et al., 2014; [97]Perales-Raya et al., 2014; [98]Iglesias et al., 2004; [99]Warren and Pearce, 2020; [100]Sergiev et al., 2016; [101]Wong et al., 2019; [102]Ebert and Southon, 2003; [103]Francis et al., 2006; [104]Bodnar, 2013; [105]McBride et al., 1997; James, 2007; Taylor et al., 2017; [106]Heflin et al., 2012; [107]Davidson et al., 2020; [108]Hogan et al., 2020; [109]Beddingfield and McClintock, 2000; [110]Stott et al., 2010; [111]Philipp et al., 2012; [112]Butler et al., 2013; [113]Lutz et al., 1981; [114]Oviedo et al., 2003; [115]Grohme et al., 2018; [116]Fincher et al., 2018; [117]Merryman et al., 2018; [118]Fenchel, 1974; [119]Chapman et al., 2010; [120]Wenger and Galliot, 2013b; [121]Schaible et al., 2014; Bellantuono et al., 2015; Klimovich et al., 2018; [122]Lenhoff and Brown, 1970.