Sauropod (and indeed all dinosaur) lifespans

[andrewsaurus rex]

Given that normally, larger animals live longer than small ones and many reptiles tend to have long life spans, it seems reasonable to conclude that individual Sauropods lived a very long time, if they made it to adulthood.   Given the incredible sizes some attained and the relatively miniscule size they started out as, that alone implies it could take decades to reach adult size on a plant based diet.

Is there any way to confirm the lifespans of sauropods (or any dinosaurs)?

[Halichoeres]

From here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1439609204000364

"Because of the poor expression or complete lack of growth marks in their fibro-lamellar bone, quantitative estimates of sauropod life-history parameters are the exception. Janenschia from Tendaguru (Sander 2000) and Apatosaurus from the Morrison Formation (Curry 1999) reached sexual maturity at >11 and >10 years, respectively. One large individual of Janenschia stopped growing at >26 years and died at >38 years (Sander 2000). A large individual of Apatosaurus (femur length 164 cm) was estimated to be 33 years old and still growing (Sander and Tückmantel 2003). An age estimate of only 15 years for another large Apatosaurus (Erickson et al. 2001) appears too low in comparison with these estimates. Longevity data are not yet available for any other sauropods."

It's certainly possible that they were capable of living much longer than that, but they don't lay down rings like a tree in a seasonal environment, so we might never know for sure.

[andrewsaurus rex]

yes I figured it was going to be difficult to determine ages and lifespans.  I suspect dinosaur life was pretty harsh and very few lived long enough to die of old age anyway.

[SidB]

yes I figured it was going to be difficult to determine ages and lifespans.  I suspect dinosaur life was pretty harsh and very few lived long enough to die of old age anyway.

True for us too, historically. Few people lived past 30 or so in centuries past. Life was "solitary, poor, short, nasty, brutish and short", to quote Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan. Archaeologists in Palestine have determined that the average life span of men was approximately 40 and women 29 (due to the rigors of child birth). It wasn't a whole lot better in North America in the early to mid-19th century. Thirty some odd or so, what with the scourge of TB. Here in Canada, my paternal grandmother died of the disease in the earlier part of the 20th century.