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Asked by anon-181166 on 12 Jun 2018.
Question: how old is the oldest animal?
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Claire Donald answered on 12 Jun 2018:
This could be a more complicated question than you anticipated 🙂
Some animals can live to a very old age. The oldest land animal I believe are giant tortoises. Currently the record is held by one called Jonathan who lives on an island off the coast of West Africa and is 183 years old.
The oldest mammals are bowhead whales which can live to over 200 years old. Other sea animals that do well include some deep sea fish which can live to 175 years old. While sponges (yes they are animals!) have been shown to live for 11,000 years!
It gets complicated because some animals are classed as immortal in the biological sense. Although they can still be hunted and eaten, if they manage to avoid this they can rejuvenate and live forever. Ming the mollusc was 507 years old when scientists accidentally caused its death but it has been suggested that clams may be biologically immortal. It was shown that their cells are resistant to damage that causes our cells to age. There is also the immortal jellyfish which can transform back into a youngster at a certain time of its life. Pretty cool!
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Nathan Clarke answered on 12 Jun 2018:
Great answer Claire. Another interesting animal to consider in this question is the horseshoe crab. They are commonly described as a ‘living fossil’. They’re considered one of the “oldest” creatures on the earth as they’ve remained unchanged by evolution for a very, very long time (over 400 million years).
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Lauren Burns answered on 13 Jun 2018:
That is a really fantastic answer Claire! I never knew that Sponges can live up to 11,000 years!
Less of an animal, but still technically living, some trees can live up to 5,000 years (such as the Bristlecone Pine Tree)!
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anon-181891 commented on :
Adwaita, an Aldabra giant tortoise, died at an estimated age of 255 in March 2006 in Alipore Zoo, Kolkata, India