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What Animal Lives the Longest Amount of Time on Average

Ever wondered which animals live the longest? Or how quondam the oldest creature is?

Believe it or not, there are sharks live today that were around when William Shakespeare was writing his best works (more 400 years agone)! In fact, there are a number of species with lifespans that put the oldest humans to shame.

Below we listing the 12 vertebrate animals that live the longest, with lifespans of anywhere up to 500 years. Nosotros've decided to wait at vertebrates only for this article, only there are a number of other forms of life on globe – especially microorganisms, and sponges – that have been proven to live for thousands, or even millions of years.

For example, some endoliths (microorganisms that live inside rock, coral and beast shells), have extremely long lifespans, metabolizing slowly with a generation fourth dimension of around 10,000 years. And in July 2022 marine biologists discovered aerobic microorganisms beneath the ocean floor that they dated to 101.v million years old.

When it comes to animals (rather than microorganisms), drinking glass sponges found in the Antarctic ocean and the Due east Prc Ocean have been determined by scientists to exist almost 15,000 years onetime.

So there is Turritopsis dohrnii – known as the 'Immortal jellyfish'. This unique animal is able to wheel from a mature adult life phase to an immature polyp life stage over again and again, which means that – in theory at least – it is biologically immortal. In reality, the immortal jellyfish go injured and eaten like nearly other animals in the wild, so is not truly immortal.

What fauna lives the longest? The bioluminescent Turritopsis dohrnii – the 'immortal jellyfish – is maybe the longest living animal e'er

With this context in mind, hither'southward our list of the 12 vertebrate animals with the longest lifespans. For each species of long-living beast below we list both the estimated average age of the species, and the estimated longest-living known individual fauna (where this is known). Sources are provided for all ages:

12 Vertebrate animals that live the longest

Greenland Shark

Oldest known historic period: 512

Average lifespan: 200

Greenland shark – the longest living animal

According to a 2016 scientific study, the Greenland shark is the longest living vertebrate in the earth by some distance. Using middle lens radiocarbon testing, a 5 meter Greenland shark was found to be 392 years old ± 120 years. This puts the historic period range of the shark tested at between 272 and a whopping 512 years one-time!

Living in the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans, the Greenland shark grows very slowly in the cold waters, at an estimated 1 cm a year, and doesn't achieve full maturity until about 100 years old. They are scavengers, eating a variety of fish and birds, though due to population decline the shark is sadly now considered about-threatened.

Giant Tortoise

Oldest known historic period: 255

Average lifespan: 150

Galapagos giant tortoise – the longest living land beast

Tortoises come in all shapes and sizes, with their lifespan more often than not linked to their size. The average historic period a tortoise can alive to is between 90 and 150 years, depending on their species, with the behemothic tortoises taking the crown of the oldest terrestrial animals.

Adwaita was an Aldabra giant tortoise who died at Alipore Zoo in India an estimated age of 255 in 2006. The oldest currently living country animate being is idea to be Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise living on the island of Saint Helena, and reported to be 188 years old.

Tortoises tend to alive much longer than turtles. Desire to know more differences betwixt turtles and tortoises?

Orange Roughy

Oldest known historic period: 245

Average lifespan: 149

Orange roughy – the longest living fish

The orange roughy – as well known as the red roughy, slimehead, or deep sea perch – is a relatively big deep-sea fish weighing up to 7 kg. Found in deep waters of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans the fish is a bright red colour which fades to a xanthous-orange afterwards death.

The orangish roughy is notable for its boggling lifespan. When they were first commercial fished in the 1970s their lifespan was thought to be 30 years, but new show has come to light that shows they live to infrequent ages – such as one orange roughy defenseless virtually Tasmania that was aged at 250 years.

Koi

Oldest known age: 226

Average lifespan: 40

Koi fish – super long living

Koi fish are a domesticated variety of the common carp native to the Caspian Sea, and tin grow up to 1 meter long. At present constitute effectually the world, koi are particularly common as ornamental fish in ponds and artificial rock pools.

With an average lifespan of 40 years in the wild, there are many cases of individual koi vastly outliving this average historic period. 1 particular Japanese koi – named Hanako – died in 1977, afterwards which a study based on the growth rings of her scales put her age at 226. It's worth noting that there is some controversy nearly this method of dating koi, and then the issue is not universally accepted.

Bowhead Whale

Oldest known historic period: 211

Average lifespan: 100

Bowhead whales – the longest living mammal

Found in the chill regions of the N Atlantic and North Pacific oceans, the Bowhead whale – besides known as the Arctic whale – is the longest living mammal on earth past some way.

Using chemical testify from the whales' eyes and teeth, together with dating harpoon tips lodged in their mankind, the boilerplate bowhead whale has been found to accept a lifespan of over 100 years. One specific whale was dated by this method to be 211 years old at the fourth dimension it died.

Rougheye Rockfish

Oldest known age: 205

Average lifespan: Unknown

Rougheye rockfish – fish with a huge lifespan

The rougheye rockfish is named subsequently the x or so spines that abound on its lower eyelid. Living in deep waters in the Due north Pacific and growing to 0.eight meters, they feed on shrimps, crabs, and other fish.

Rougheye rockfish are recognised as beingness amidst the longest living of all fish and have been known to accomplish an historic period of 205 years

Tuatara

Oldest known age: 200

Boilerplate lifespan: 100

Tuatara – the long-living cadger

The tuatara is a lizard-like reptile owned to New Zealand, and is the last of a type of a creature that originated during the Triassic period, having diverged from other reptiles around 250 million years agone.

Tuatara tin can live to well over 100 years, with Henry, a tuatara in captivity at New Zealand'south Southland Museum, mating for the first time at the age of 111 with an lxxx-year-erstwhile female to father xi babies. Their longevity has been the subject field of a scientific investigation, and during genome sequencing tuatara were shown to contain more genes to protect against aging than any other vertebrate.

Red Sea Urchin

Oldest known historic period: 200

Average lifespan: 100

A group of crimson ocean urchins

The red sea urchin is a small, spiny invertebrate that lives in shallow littoral waters effectually the world. A contempo study concluded that the red bounding main urchin often live to exist 100 years old, and some may achieve 200 years or more and still in good health. This puts them at effectually the same lifespan equally the ocean quahog, a bivalve molusc.

Urchins in full general seem to appear to be able to defy crumbling, beingness able to reproduce through their entire lives, and can regenerate lost body parts.

Sturgeon

Oldest known age: 150

Average lifespan: 100

A sturgeon fish

Sturgeons are referred to as 'primitive fishes' every bit they remain almost unchanged since their earliest fossils, which date to around 200 meg years agone at the end of the Triassic catamenia. The fish are native to subtropical, temperate, and sub-Chill lakes, rivers, and coastlines of Eurasia and North America.

Ranging ii to 7 meters long, sturgeon are amongst the longest living fishes, living to 100 years on average. Female lake sturgeon are the longest living type of sturgeon and can live to be 150 years old.

Macaw

Oldest known age: possibly 121

Average lifespan: 35

Macaws – the longest living birds

Macaws are the largest and about vibrantly coloured members of the parrot family, and found in ranges across Northward and S America. In the wild macaws have a life expectancy of around 35 years, though alive much longer in captivity due to the lack of predation. It's thought that the size of the macaw is linked to its longevity – the larger the bird is, the longer its lifespan.

Whilst it'south common for pet macaws to live to seventy or 80, it's possible they can live much longer. Ane blue-and-yellowish macaw called Charlie is said to have been hatched in 1899 and was once the pet of Winston Churchill (though this claim has been refuted by Churchill's estate). Charlie supposedly celebrated her 120th birthday at a garden heart in Reigate, England in 2022.

Longfin Eel

Oldest known age: 106

Boilerplate lifespan: lx

A longfin eel peeps out from encompass

Native to New Zealand and Australia these eels are a traditional food source for the Maori people. The longfin eel averages an age of effectually sixty years, and the oldest living longfin eel e'er recorded died at 106 years old. Equally with the Greenland shark, these eels grow extremely slowly, which helps them achieve such former ages.

Elephant

Oldest known age: 86

Average lifespan: 60

An African elephant has an imesnse lifespan

Elephants are the largest land animals in the globe, and take an impressive average lifespan of effectually 60 years.

The oldest individual elephant we're aware of – confirmed past Guinness Globe Records – was Ling Wang, an Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), who died on 26 Feb 2003 aged 86, at Taipei Zoo, Taiwan.

Do you know all of the differences between Asian and African elephants?

Greater Flamingo

Oldest known age: 83

Boilerplate lifespan: 35

Greater flamingo wandering in a lake

The greater flamingo is the about common of the six flamingo species, recognisable for their long neck, pinkish coloring, and black-tipped pecker with a precipitous downwardly bend.

In the wild greater flamingos accept an average lifespan of 35 years, whilst in captivity, the birds are known to live to around sixty years one-time. The oldest known greater flamingo – named Greater – died at Adelaide Zoo in January 2014 at the age of 83.

What to know why flamingos stand up on 1 leg?

And that's your lot for our pick of animals that live the longest. What practice you call up – did any of these long-living animals surprise you? Delight let the states know your thoughts or any experiences you accept of seeing these animals in the wild in the comments section beneath!

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