I don't see any corolation between lifespan and Bipedalism
Maximum Recorded Lifespan of 58 Animals
1. Tortoise 188 years
2. Lake Sturgeon 152 years
3. Human 122 years, 5 months
4. Fin Whale 116 years
5. Blue Whale 110 years
6. Humpback Whale 95 years
7. Elephant (African) 80 years
8. Turtle (eastern box) 75 years
9. Parrot (African grey) 73 years
10. Alligator 66 years
11. Horse 62 years
12. Chimpanzee 59 years, 5 months
13. Orangutan 59 years
14. Eagle (eastern imperial) 56 years
15. Seal (Baikal) 56 years
16. Hippopotamus 54 years, 4 months
17. Gorilla 54 years
18. Camel 50 years
19. Grizzly Bear 50 years
20. Rhinoceros (Indian) 49 years
21. Brown Bear 47 years
22. Condor (California) 45 years
23. Goldfish 43 years
24. Hyena (spotted) 41 years, 1 month
25. Boa constrictor 40 years, 3 months
26. Vulture 39 years
27. Polar Bear 38 years, 2 months
28. Giraffe 36 years, 4 months
29. Dolphin 35 years
30. Rhinoceros (Sumatran) 35 years
31. Cat 34 years
32. Ant (queen) 30 years
33. Kangaroo (red) 30 years
34. Panda (giant) 30 years
35. Dog 29 years, 6 months
36. Lion 29 years
37. Porcupine (Old World) 27 years, 4 months
38. Tiger 26 years, 4 months
39. Wombat 26 years, 1 month
40. Aardvark 24 years
41. Sheep 24 years
42. Jaguar 22 years
43. Raccoon 20 years, 7 months
44. Frog 20 years
45. Koala 20 years
46. Porcupine (normal) 20 years
47. Vampire Bat 19 years, 6 months
48. Pigeon 18 years, 6 months
49. Rabbit 18 years
50. Duck-billed Platypus 17 years
51. Guinea Pig 14 years, 10 months
52. Hedgehog 14 years
53. Shrew (non-human) 12 years
54. Hamster 10 years
55. Gopher (eastern pocket) 7 years, 2 months
56. Anchovy 7 years
57. Partridge 6 years, 3 months
58. Mole 5 years
I never heard of a turtle with a back problem
Thou art twisting the facts, Senor Qam1
First you use the oldest numbers, not fair to all the rest of us that will only obtain an average age. Secondly, I said nothing about bipedalism and age, only that H. sapiens may have back problems, because our average age has increased, allowing onset of arthritic conditions, calcification of the spinal column and other assorted osteo diseases. Hell, I never had a back twinge before I was 50. Now I have problems of varying degrees on a regular basis. If I was a wild animal, I would be dead and eaten a long time ago if I had back problems.
Do you think a tortoise's shell helps stabilize his spinal column. I think it might. Several of your longer lived guys are water creatures - extra support for a spinal column - and fish don't count. You guys were discussing bipedal vs. quadrapeds.
Lastly you left out a huge number of the smaller quadrapeds, most that don't live very long.
So my point. The fact that we live longer causes many more medical problems. Is it not possible that back problems are among these?