400-year-old Greenland shark ‘longest-living vertebrate’

A Greenland shark slowly moves through the waters after being tagged for research

Greenland sharks are now the longest-living vertebrates known on Earth, scientists say.

Researchers used radiocarbon dating to determine the ages of 28 of the animals, and estimated that one female was about 400 years old.

A shark seen near Disko Bay in western Greenland

The team found that the sharks grow at just 1cm a year, and reach sexual maturity at about the age of 150.
The research is published in the journal Science.

A Greenland shark after its release from the research ship

Lead author Julius Nielsen, a marine biologist from the University of Copenhagen, said: "We had our expectations that we were dealing with an unusual animal, but I think everyone doing this research was very surprised to learn the sharks were as old as they were."

The former vertebrate record-holder was a bowhead whale estimated to be 211 years old. But if invertebrates are brought into the longevity competition, a 507-year-old clam called Ming holds the title of most aged animal.