It is one of the animals with the longest lifespan on the planet: this shark could live between 272 and 512 years …
Researcher Julius Nielsen and his team wanted to know how old the little-known sharks in Greenland can live. In 2016, after having dated the eyes of 28 females with carbon 14, they published an unprecedented result. “We came to an estimate that the oldest shark in our study was between 272 and 512 years old.“Even with the low estimate, this species may outlive Galapagos giant tortoises, needle-eye rockfish or even bowhead whales.
Today, the researcher does not consider this species as threatened, but he considers it necessary to keep it under close surveillance. “Monitoring should be improved“Julius believes.
