Long-lived animals have traits that slow down, and sometimes even halt or reverse, the aging process. While humans have an “absolute limit” of 150 years, that’s just a blink of an eye compared to the centuries and millennia some animals live.
The true champions of the age live in water, often at great depths where conditions are stable and constant.. Scientists can’t record the birth and death of every member of a species, so they often estimate maximum lifespans based on what is known about a species’ biology.
These are some of the longest-lived animals in the world.
The turtles
The longest-lived land animal is a 190-year-old Seychelles giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea hololissa) named Jonathan.
The tortoise lives on the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic where it was captured by the Seychelles in 1882. Jonathan’s age is an estimate, but a photograph of him taken between 1882 and 1886 shows that he was fully mature – at least 50 years – at the end of the 19th century, Live Science previously reported.
On January 12, 2022, Guinness World Records announced that Jonathan was the oldest tortoise in history. “She’s a local icon, a symbol of persistence in the face of change,” Joe Hollins, Jonathan’s veterinarian, told Guinness World Records at the time.
red sea urchins
They are small round invertebrates covered with spines. They live in shallow coastal waters of North America, from California to Alaska, where they feed on marine plants, according to Oregon State University.
Researchers used to assume that red sea urchins grow rapidly and have modest life spans, up to about 10 years, but sometimes Studying the species in more detail, they realized that these urchins continue to grow very slowly and, in some places, survive for centuries if they manage to avoid predators.s, diseases and fishermen.
Red sea urchins off the coast of Washington and Alaska probably live for more than 100 years.and the longest-lived specimens in British Columbia, Canada may be around 200 years old, according to a 2003 study published in the journal Fishery Bulletin.
bow whales
They are the longest-lived mammals. The exact longevity of these arctic and subarctic whales is unknown, but stone harpoon points found in some captured specimens show that they live comfortably for over 100 years and they can live to be more than 200, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Whales have mutations in a gene called ERCC1, involved in the repair of damaged DNA, which it can help protect them from cancer, a possible cause of death. Also, another gene, called PCNA, has a duplicate section. This gene is involved in cell growth and repair, and duplication could slow aging.
Source: Clarin
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