A shark that can live for 400 years

Discussion in 'Biology & Genetics' started by Plazma Inferno!, Aug 12, 2016.

  1. Plazma Inferno! Ding Ding Ding Ding Administrator

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    Scientists just named the longest-living species of vertebrate animal. It's a creature that can live up to 400 years old, almost twice the lifespan of the oldest giant tortoises or bowhead whales, nature's next runners-up. These lords of longevity are the Greenland sharks, Somniosus microcephalus.
    Although the Greenland sharks are not a newfound species, their absurdly long lifespan has only now been discovered. A team of marine biologists at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark has found that the mysterious sharks don't even reach maturity until 150 years. The slow-swimming sharks are endemic to the cold polar waters of the north Atlantic and Arctic oceans and can grow up to 17 feet in length.
    Using radiocarbon dating, team peered into sharks' eyes to find their age, because these shark eye lenses are formed of an inert crystal-like protein, which is first formed while the shark is still in its egg.

    http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a22278/greenland-shark-live-for-400-years/
     
    joepistole and ajanta like this.
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  3. ajanta Registered Senior Member

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    Thanks for the thread ! I didn't know about it of shark but about tortoise.
     
    Plazma Inferno! likes this.
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