From MinuteEarth.
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Fish, amphibians, and reptiles –actually, almost all vertebrates– get bigger throughout their lives; they generally keep on growing until they die. Then, there are humans, who, by the age of 20 or so, just stop getting bigger… or at least taller. Why do we stop growing partway through life?
LEARN MORE
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To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
– Cartilage: firm, whitish, flexible connective tissue found in various forms in the larynx and respiratory tract, in structures such as the external ear, and in the articulating surfaces of joints. It is more widespread in the infant skeleton, being replaced by bone during growth.
– Estrogen: any of a group of steroid hormones that regulate sexual development and function.
– Growth plate: areas of cartilage located at the ends of long bones in children and adolescents.
– Indeterminate growth: a biological process where an organism continues to grow throughout its life, rather than stopping at a genetically predetermined size.
If you liked this week’s video, you might also like:
@SamWebster did a great and detailed video on the histology of the growth plate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QAXY1Jec04
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CREDITS
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Cameron Duke | Script Writer, Narrator and Director
Ever Salazar | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation
Nathaniel Schroeder | Music
MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC
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Lizah van der Aart • Sarah Berman • Cameron Duke
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Robert Wadlow postcard (Public Domain) – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_Wadlow_postcard.jpg
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REFERENCES
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Ağırdil, Yücel. “The Growth Plate: A Physiologic Overview.” EFORT Open Reviews, vol. 5, no. 8, Aug. 2020, pp. 498–507, https://doi.org/10.1302/2058-5241.5.190088
Hariharan, Iswar K., et al. “Indeterminate Growth: Could It Represent the Ancestral Condition?” Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, vol. 8, no. 2, 27 July 2015, p. a019174, https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a019174
Reno, Philip L, et al. “Growth Plate Formation and Development in Alligator and Mouse Metapodials: Evolutionary and Functional Implications.” Journal of Experimental Zoology. Part B, Molecular and Developmental Evolution, vol. 308, no. 3, Autumn 2007, pp. 283–96, https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.b.21148
Weise, M., et al. “Effects of Estrogen on Growth Plate Senescence and Epiphyseal Fusion.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 98, no. 12, 29 May 2001, pp. 6871–6876, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.121180498
Wikipedia Contributors. “Robert Wadlow.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Aug. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Wadlow
