Baby Yoda and Alien Lifespans

If you've been anywhere on social media in the last week, you've probably seen the cutest creature ever from Star Wars: The Mandalorian (yes, even cuter than the porgs):

(Photo Credit: Disney)

I'm talking about Baby Yoda, whom I'll refer to here as BY. It's not clear yet if BY is actually Yoda's child, but since no one knows the name of Yoda's species, the child has to have some kind of name. (Since we don't know the child's gender, I'll use "they" and "them" pronouns.)

BY is supposed to be 50 years old, but they appear to be an infant or young toddler. Since BY can get out of their carrier, let's assume they're developmentally equivalent to a two-year-old human.  It's mentioned in Star Wars that species age differently, and we know Yoda was about 900 years old when he died. Still, BY has already spent about 5.5% (50/900) of their total lifespan as an infant/toddler. A two-year-old human has reached about 1.7% of her maximum life span, using 120 years as maximum age. Is that a significant difference? It's hard to judge on so little data. If species age at different rates, it might make sense that they would spend different proportions of their life at different stages. Sentient, social species like humans need to have longer childhoods to learn the rules of their world. That said, if you're going to have an extended childhood, it would make sense to be equivalent to a four-to-ten-year-old human child, not an infant. The older child is slightly less dependent on caregivers, can explore the world independently, and has enough brain power/development to make sense of it.

Of course, there are some good explanations for why BY might still be a baby or toddler after fifty years. Here are a few of them:

• The child was first sensed while they were in an egg or in stasis, so they might not have actually been born fifty years ago.
• Yoda's species is strong with the Force, so the Force may affect the child's development. (The Force could limit the child's growth, or the child may need to grow slowly to master the Force.)
• There might be some environmental factor limiting the child's growth. For instance, the child may need some nutrient found only on the species' home planet to mature. (This is my favorite theory and what I would use if I was writing this story.)

Are you a Baby Yoda fan? Are you content to adore their cuteness, or do you want to learn more about their species? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.