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Is 122 years the world's longest living animal?
What is the longest living vertebrates on Earth?
Greenland sharks live for between 300 and 500 years and are the longest-living vertebrate. They take life very slowly, moving at an average of 0.76 mph. They grow about a cm every year, and females may not reach sexual maturity until they are 100 to 150 years old – that’s one long childhood!
- Jellyfish
Jellyfish are the oldest multi-organ animal, roaming the...
- Extinct
Animal extinctions may be caused by natural occurrences such...
- Fastest
The cheetah is skilled at running down fast prey and can...
- Unusual Mating Habits
When you live deep in the ocean, finding a mate is not an...
- Jellyfish
- Patrick Pester
- Hydra: potentially immortal. Hydra is a group of small invertebrates with soft bodies that slightly resemble jellyfish and, like T. dohrnii, have the potential to live forever.
- Turritopsis dohrnii: potentially immortal. Turritopsis dohrnii is called the immortal jellyfish because it can potentially live forever. Jellyfish start life as larvae before establishing themselves on the seafloor and transforming into polyps.
- Glass sponge: 10,000+ years old. Sponges are made up of colonies of animals, similar to corals, and can also live for thousands of years. Glass sponges are among the longest-living sponges on Earth.
- Black coral: 4,000+ years old. Corals look like colorful, underwater rocks and plants, but they are actually made up of the exoskeletons of invertebrates called polyps.
- Galapagos Giant Tortoise
- Geoduck
- Red Sea Urchin
- Koi
- Aldabra Giant Tortoise
- Bowhead Whale
- Greenland Shark
- Ocean Quahog
- Basal Animals
- Immortal Jellyfish
The first animal of this list already has a lifespan that exceeds that of many common-day animals and humans alike! The Galapagos giant tortoises (Chelonoidis niger) have a lifespan of up to 100 years. However, this is just the average maximum for this species. In captivity, they can easily live to be up to 177 years old. One Galapagos giant tortoi...
The geoduck (Panopea generosa) is the largest burrowing clam in the entire world. It also happens to be one of the top ten longest living animals. The Pacific geoduck can grow to be over 2 meters long and weigh as much as 7 kilograms. On average, they can live to be around 140 years old. However, the oldest geoduck was 179 years old. 2
The red sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) is one of many types of sea urchins found in the oceans throughout the world. They’re the largest species of sea urchin, with the ability to grow to be up to 18 centimeters in diameter with 8-centimeter long spines. On average, red sea urchins live to be around 100 years old. Although, it is not ...
Believe it or not, but koi fish (Cyprinus rubrofuscus) actually have a much shorter lifespan outside of Japan than in the country. In Japan, koi can live to be around 40 to 50 years old. Outside of Japan, they face a lifespan of less than half of that at around 15 years. While this is the average lifespans for koi fish, however, they’ve been known ...
The Galapagos giant tortoise isn’t the only tortoise species on this list! There is also the Aldabra giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea). This species is native to the Aldabra atoll, which is the second largest atoll in the world. It is also one of the largest species of tortoise. Typically, Aldabra giant tortoises reach an age around 200 years...
The bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) is a type of baleen whale. It’s named for the shape of its head, and this specific species is found only in the frigid waters of Antarctica and the Arctic. They have the largest mouth in the world, but they’re a filter feeder rather than an avid hunter of larger consumers. Bowhead whales are the longest living...
Also known as the gurry shark or grey shark, the Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) is a living dinosaur! While bowhead whales may have the longest lifespan of all mammals, the Greenland shark has the longest lifespan of all verterbraes. Greenland sharks don’t reach sexual maturity until at least around 150 years in age. The oldest specimen ...
The ocean quahog (Arctica islandica) is a type of clam found in the North Atlantic Ocean. They have one of the slowest growth cycles of clam species. It can take almost 6 years for the ocean quahog to reach maturity. Ocean quahogs are longest living non-colonial metazoan. This just means that they are multi-celled organism that doesn’t live in a co...
Basal animals are those that are relatively primitive compared to other species. This includes animals like sponges as well as corals. These are also some of the longest living animals! Some sponges can live for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. The glass sponge found in the East China sea are thought to be able to live for 11,000 years. 9
Are you ready to meet the longest living animal? These animals are so old that they, biologically, live forever! That’s right, the immortal jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii) has this interesting name for a reason. They have evolved to have special cells, which can transform as needed into different types of cells. This allows them to revert to their ...
- Bob Strauss
- Longest-Lived Insect: The Queen Termite (50 Years) One normally thinks of insects as living only a few days, or at most a few weeks, but if you're a particularly important bug all the rules go out the window.
- Longest-Lived Fish: The Koi (50 Years) In the wild, fish rarely live for more than a few years and even a well-cared-for goldfish will be lucky to reach the decade mark.
- Longest-Lived Bird: The Macaw (100 Years) In many ways, macaws are unnervingly similar to suburban Americans of the 1950s: these colorful parrot relatives mate for life; the females incubate the eggs (and care for the young) while the males forage for food; and they have human-like life spans, surviving for up to 60 years in the wild and 100 years in captivity.
- Longest-Lived Amphibian: The Cave Salamander (100 Years) If you were asked to identify an animal that regularly hits the century mark, the blind salamander, Proteus anguinus, would probably be close to last on your list: how can a fragile, eyeless, cave-dwelling, six-inch-long amphibian possibly survive in the wild for more than a couple of weeks?
- Greenland Shark. According to a study utilizing eye lens radiocarbon testing, the minimum life span of a Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) is 272 years, with a maximum reported age of 392 years.
- Geoduck Clam. These oversized saltwater clams have been known to live for more than 165 years. Geoducks (Panopea generosa) experience rapid growth during their first years of life, acquiring more than an inch per year, on average, in the first four years.
- Tuatara. Tuatara are the only surviving members of an order that flourished about 200 million years ago, the Sphenodontia. Considered living fossils, these lizaradlike reptiles are among the longest-lived vertebrates on Earth, with some individuals living more than 100 years.
- Lamellibrachia Tube Worm. These colorful deep-sea creatures are tube worms (Lamellibrachia luymesi) that have been known to live between 170 and 250 years.
Feb 16, 2024 · Longest Living Animal: Immortal Jellyfish This sea creature takes the crown as Earth's longest-living creature, as it can potentially live forever. Scientifically known as Turritopsis dohrnii , the immortal jellyfish is a small marine species renowned for its ability to revert to its juvenile polyp stage after reaching maturity, potentially ...
Nov 1, 2023 · Chimpanzee Lifespan. Chimpanzees and orangutans, for example, can live between 50 and 55 years in the wild, according to a study published in 2012, and even longer in captivity. Gorilla Lifespan. In the wild, gorillas have a lifespan of around 40 years. The maximum reported age of gorillas in the wild is 43 years. Neanderthal Lifespan.
