The longest-lived animal

Some existing plant and animal species seem to be immortal. Even if they are not, they can still live for a long time compared with human life. The longest-lived animals are Arctic clam, bowhead whale, Aleutian flounder, freshwater pearl clam, Greenland shark and so on.

1, Arctic clam

Arctic clams live in the North Atlantic. In 2006, scientists captured an Arctic clam off the coast of Iceland, but it died unexpectedly in the follow-up study. 20 13, 165438+ 10 month, 13, the analysis released by scientists shows that the real age of this arctic clam is as high as 507 years old. This means that he was born around 1499.

2.bowhead whale

Bowhead whales are the longest-lived mammals, living in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. In May 2007, researchers captured a sample of a bowhead whale off the coast of Alaska and found a harpoon made from 1879 to 1885 on its neck. Based on this, it is inferred that the age of death is between 1 15 and 130.

Subsequently, the researchers measured other samples of bowhead whales, and the age of one sample was estimated to be 2 1 1 year. According to CSIRO researchers, the genome sequence shows that the maximum life span of bowhead whales is about 268 years.

3. Aleutian flounder

Aleutian flounder is one of the longest-lived fish, and the longest-lived fish can live to 205 years old. These pink or brown fish live in the Pacific Ocean from California to Japan. The Canadian Committee on Endangered Wildlife (COSEWIC) estimates that they will grow to 38 inches (97 cm) long and feed on other animals such as shrimp and small fish.

4. freshwater pearl mussels

Freshwater pearl mussel is a kind of bivalve, which mainly lives in rivers and streams in Europe and North America. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the oldest known freshwater pearl mussel is 280 years old. These invertebrates live a long life because of their slow metabolism.

5. Greenland sharks

Greenland sharks live in the depths of the Arctic and the North Atlantic, and are one of the largest shark species in existence. According to the data from the Shark Observatory in St Lawrence, Canada, they can grow to 7.3 meters long and feed on marine mammals such as fish and seals.

In 20 16, the researchers wrote in Science that their research on a group of Greenland sharks showed that the life span of these sharks was at least 272 years, and the oldest was about 392 years, and some of them might even live to 5 12 years. There may be some uncertainty about the age estimate, but even at 272, these sharks can rank among the longest-lived vertebrates on earth.