History Main / HumanlikeAnimalAging

* '''Precocial Altricial Baby Animals:''' This is when a baby animal of an altricial species is inaccurately portrayed as less altricial or more precocial than in real life. One variant is an animal that is born furless or hatches featherless in real life is depicted as being born fully furred or being fully feathered when it hatches. Some examples are animal equivalents of the ThreeMonthOldNewborn.

* '''Precocial Altricial Baby Animals:''' This is when a baby animal of an altricial species is inaccurately portrayed as less altricial or more precocial than in real life. Some examples are animal equivalents of the ThreeMonthOldNewborn.

In animation and comics, animal characters develop and age like humans. In reality, they tend to have much different lifespans, ranging from mere weeks to centuries longer than any human could hope to live. In addition, they usually develop quite differently and sometimes have life stages that are completely alien to humans.

* '''Human-like Baby Animal Body Proportions:''' This is when baby animal is inaccurately given body proportions like those of human babies. For example, real-life calves, fawns, and foals have long legs, so that they can stand shortly after birth and reach to suckle.

* The calves and lambs in the ''Mickey and the Beanstalk'' of ''Disney/FunAndFancyFree '' have long, ungainly legs like real calves and lambs. In fact, many other classic Disney works that show calves and lambs show them with the correct leg proportions.

* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' features calves (baby cows) with large heads and stubby legs. However, the foals (baby horses) have long legs, like real foals.

!!Examples of Two, Three, or All Four Forms:

* In ''WesternAnimation/FantasticMrFox'', the characters' ages are often given in fox years. Apparently six fox years is about as long as a normal year; Ash is two years old in non-fox years, but about twelve in fox years (and is about as developed physically and mentally as a twelve-year-old human child). Mr. Fox gives his age as seven non-fox years, which makes him about as old as a fourty-two year old human.

In animation and comics, animal characters develop and age like humans. In reality, they tend to have much different lifespans ranging, from mere weeks to centuries longer than any human could hope to live. In addition, they usually develop quite differently and sometimes have life stages that are completely alien to humans.

* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic ''FanFic/AMightyDemonSlayerGroomsSomePonies'' zig-zags this. In the ancient era, Ponyland's ponies age like horses (a pony remarks that an eleven-year-old human is "two in human years"). Over the next several thousand years (by the ''Friendship is Magic'' era) they become much more humanlike, including having a human lifespan and aging at a human pace.

* The calves and lambs in ''MickeyAndTheBeanstalk'' have long, ungainly legs like real calves and lambs. In fact, many other classic Disney works that show calves and lambs show them with the correct leg proportions.

* Arizona from ''VideoGame/ThemsFightinHerds'' is a one year old NearlyCivilizedAnimal calf. Other characters age similar to their real counterparts. Unicorns and longma age slower than "normal" animals.

[[AC:Anime And Manga]]
* Akamaru from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' is two years old at the start but is still a small puppy. Within not even three years, he hit a huge growth spurt. Kiba could ride him like a horse, when before he could ride on Kiba's head. In the [[DistantFinale final chapter]] he's very, very old looking but alive some fifteen to twenty years later. Large dog breeds tend to have short lifespans. In Akamaru's case it can be justified in that he's a fictional breed of ninja dog.

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[[AC: Video Games]]
* Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog and his friends. Most of them, including Sonic himself, are stated to be teenagers between 14-16, while the younger ones such as Tails are between 6-8. Amy Rose is in the middle at 12. Their ages are a case of AllThereInTheManual, but they typically do behave the same as humans that age.

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[[AC:Western Animation]]

* This isn't mentioned, but it's strongly implied in ''WesternAnimation/ChipAndDaleRescueRangers''. In the pilot, when Gadget is added to the group, it's mostly because she is the daughter of a friend of one of the protagonists, and she is the only one who can fly his plane now that he is dead. It is mentioned that said friend and protagonist fought together in "The Great War", which seems to be an expy war for UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. For any of this part of the pilot to work, either,

* TheHub's ''WesternAnimation/PoundPuppies2010'' lampshades this trope in one episode.

* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo'' is a seven year old Great Dane. Danes have a typical lifespan of under ten, and even to a smaller breed seven would be old, but Scooby isn't presented as anything but a young adult.

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* In ''OnePiece'', the Fishmen (a FishPeople, not a HalfHumanHybrid) ages not unlike humans. Evidenced in Hody Jones and his New Fishman Pirates, who, after a steroid-induced RapidAging, are shown with wrinkles, saggy eyesockets, gray beards and teeth loss.

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* ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'' usually plays this straight, as the babies are usually stubby mini versions of their mother. ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAWonderfulLife'' averts it by having realistically proportioned animals.

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[[AC:Western Animation]]

* Surprisingly averted in ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer''. A Christmas episode shows that Sniper, Boots, and several of the animals are the exact same age. Boots is a child, Sniper is an adult, and the others are varying degrees of [[VagueAge vague]]. When they go into the future less than six years Sniper, who is a fox, is a senior while Boots the Monkey isn't even a teenager yet.

* ''Franchise/HarvestMoon'' usually plays this straight, as the babies are usually stubby mini versions of their mother. ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAWonderfulLife'' averts it by having realistically proportioned animals.

* In the ''{{Redwall}}'' series most animals seem to use "seasons" as a substitute for years, Tagg for example is stated to be an adult at 16 seasons. They seem to equate one season to one year, and that's still far too slow. In the example that's given of Tagg, to be realistic he would have had to have been an adult by around 13 months, or just over four seasons. Also, the mice ought to be fully grown in well under one season.

* Inverted with ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K'''s Space Wolves, who undergo Animal-like Superhuman Aging: As they grow older, Space Wolves gain wolf-like characteristics thanks to a mutation of their geneseed: their hair grows gray (from its original black, blond or red), their canine teeth grow more proeminent, and their eyes turn gold. Some even go too far, becoming animalistic Wulfen.

* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic ''FanFic/AMightyDemonSlayerGroomsSomePonies'' zig-zags this. In the ancient era, Ponyland's ponies age like horses (a pony remarks about an eleven-year-old human that it's "two in human years"). Over the next several thousand years (by the ''Friendship is Magic'' era) they become much more humanlike, including a human lifespan.

* ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'': Nick Wilde is thirty-two years old, and Judy is in her twenties. Foxes and rabbits in real life live much shorter than that.

* This isn't mentioned, but it's strongly implied in ''WesternAnimation/ChipAndDaleRescueRangers''. In the pilot, when Gadget is added to the group, it's mostly because she is the daughter of a friend of one of the protagonists, and she is the only one who can fly his plane now that he is dead. It is mentioned that said friend and protagonist fought together in "The Great War", which seems to be an expy war for WorldWarII. For any of this part of the pilot to work, either,

* Averted in ''VisualNovel/{{Nekopara}}'', all catgirls grow and age like their real life counterpart, the most absurd example goes to Coconut, being a Maine Coon, she has the body of an adult woman despite being ''[[YoungerThanTheyLook 1 year old]]''.

* Averted in ''VisualNovel/Nekopara'', all catgirls grow and age like their real life counterpart, the most absurd example goes to Coconut, being a Maine Coon, she has the body of an adult woman despite being ''[[YoungerThanTheyLook 1 year old]]''.

* While he certainly has a far longer than human lifespan, some of the clues to [[StarWars Yoda's]] advanced age include wisps of gray hair and the fact that he is almost always seen either walking with a cane or in a scifi version of a wheelchair.

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* Akamaru from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' is two years old at the start but is a small puppy. Within not even three years later he hit a huge growth spurt so now Kiba can ride him like a horse, when before he could ride on Kiba's head. In the [[DistantFinale final chapter]] he's very, very old looking but alive some fifteen to twenty years later. Large dog breeds tend to have short lifespans. In Akamaru's case it can be justified in that he's a fictional breed of ninja dog.

* Originally averted by {{Garfield}}, who mentions on his second birthday that the human equivalent of fourteen, and complains about aging ever since he turned four. Later played straight, as he's still relatively healthy and active over 30, though the average lifespan of a housecat is 12-14 years at the least and 20 years at the most. It's possible for cats to live longer than 20 however. In Scotland, there was a cat that was reported to have lived to be 43 years old. While there are unconfirmed reports of cats living longer, like the aforementioned report, the oldest cat ever recorded, Creme Puff, was 38 years and died three days later.

* Akamaru from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' is two years old at the start but is a small puppy. Within not even three years later he hit a huge growth spurt so now Kiba can ride him like a horse, when before he could ride on Kiba's head. In the final chapter he's very, very old looking but alive some fifteen to twenty years later. Large dog breeds tend to have short lifespans. In Akamaru's case it can be justified i that he's a fictional breed of ninja dog.

* This isn't mentioned, but it's strongly implied in ChipAndDaleRescueRangers. In the pilot, when Gadget is added to the group, it's mostly because she is the daughter of a friend of one of the protagonists, and she is the only one who can fly his plane now that he is dead. It is mentioned that said friend and protagonist fought together in "The Great War", which seems to be an expy war for WorldWarII. For any of this part of the pilot to work, either,

* Surprisingly averted in ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer''. A Christmas episode shows that Sniper, Boots, and several of the animals are the exact same age. Boots is a child, Sniper is an adult, and the others are varying degrees of [[VagueAge vague]]. When they go into the future less than six years Sniper, who is a fox, is a senior while Boots the Monkey isn't even teenaged.

* Newborn lions in ''Disney/TheLionKing'' are basically the equivalent of the ThreeMonthOldNewborn trope. They're big and already have their eyes open.

* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' features calves (baby cows) with large heads and stubby legs.
** However, the foals (baby horses) have long legs, like real foals.
* ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'' usually plays this straight, as the babies are usually stubby mini versions of their mother. ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAWonderfulLife'' averts it.

* ZigZagged in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' - ponies seem to live as long as humans. On the other hand, baby ponies seem to develop very quickly, like real horses. Also, though it's debated to what extent it was intended to imply this, the very elderly Granny Smith was present for the founding of Ponyville, and that was later established to have happened quite some time ago. If taken at face value, Granny's been in the triple digits longer than most of the cast has been alive, with other generations having come and gone, suggesting that rarely, some ponies can live a great deal longer than is normally possible. The comic character Professor Inkwell is a similar case: looks very old now; looked younger when some adult ponies were children... and looked just as young for events that should be well before her time even then, but it's unclear if it's WritersCannotDoMaths at work.

* ZigZagged in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' - ponies seem to live as long as humans. On the other hand, baby ponies seem to develop very quickly, like real horses.