Generally the heart rate depends on the size of the animal. Smaller animals such as mice and rats have much faster heart rates than larger animals such as dogs or humans.
The main reason for this is because smaller animals have a higher metabolic rate, for example they are able to move around much faster and therefore use more energy, meaning the cells of their body requires more oxygen and nutrients than larger animals. So smaller animals have a faster heart rate so that more blood is pumped to their cells to provide the oxygen and nutrients.
I believe that Hummingbirds are thought to have the fastest heart rate at 1200 beats per minute.
I am unsure which animal has the lowest heart rate. I know there is a type of crocodile which can have exeptionally low heart rates, and that the blue whale has a low heart rate. The humming bird has the highest I know of.
The hummingbirds heart beats at 1400 beats per minute
The whales heart beats at about 6 times per minute
Humans beat at 60
Some animals heart rates are determined by the outside temperature- for example the wood frog lives in really cold conditions and can actually STOP it’s heart as it freezes then as the weather gets warming and it thaws out the heart starts to beat again- lots of research it being carried out to try and work out the magic of this!!
Usually, but not always, the smaller the animal the quicker the heart rate and the larger the animal the slower the heart rate. The great whale is about 7 beats per minute, whereas the hummingbird is around 1250 beats per minute!
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