A Shark That Was 512 Years Old?

It turns out that Greenland sharks routinely live to be 272 years old. One was caught recently that may have been 512 years old. That is to say, she would have been born in 1504.

She had been swimming in the northern sea, starting only 12 years after Columbus discovered America. She would have been 13 years old when Martin Luther posted his theses. She could have eaten a Pilgrim.

This would make this species of shark the longest-living vertebrate. Scientists are trying to figure out how these creatures can live so long, hoping to apply their findings to human beings.

UPDATE: The shark, whose long life was ignominiously ended when it was caught in a fishing net, was female. So I have changed the earlier pronoun “he” to “she.” Also, as the linked story says, the scientists determined that the shark was between 272 and 512 years old, probably more likely 400 than the upper limit. But still, that’s old.

From Talk About An Ancient Mariner! Greenland Shark Is At Least 272 Years Old : Shots – Health News : NPR:

Sharks can live to be at least 272 years old in the Arctic seas, and scientists say one recently caught shark may have lived as long as 512 years.

That’s according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science that says Greenland sharks can live longer than any other known animal advanced enough to have a backbone. Until now, the record-holder for the oldest vertebrate was the bowhead whale, known to have lived up to 211 years.

The Greenland shark, a massive carnivore that can be more than 16 feet long, hasn’t been studied much, and its life in the cold northern waters remains largely mysterious.Julius Nielsen, at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, says there had been some hints that Greenland sharks grow very slowly, perhaps less than a centimeter per year. That suggested the huge sharks might be ancient.

“We only expected that the sharks might be very old,” says Nielsen. “But we did not know in advance. And it was, of course, a very big surprise to learn that it was actually the oldest vertebrate animal.”

He and some colleagues obtained 28 female Greenland sharks taken by research vessels as unintended bycatch from 2010 to 2013. The researchers then used radiocarbon dating techniques on the lenses of the sharks’ eyes.

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