What would you consider to be ‘old’? If you are in your 20s, you probably look at something that is 50 years old as being rather old. If you’re in your 50s, you might think that someone who is in their 70s or 80s is old. It is often a matter of perspective but typically, it has to do with our life span, which is somewhere around 70 or 80 years for the most part.
What if I were to tell you that they found a shark that was 512 years old? This isn’t just a guessing game, it is a reality. A group of scientists found this ancient shark in the North Atlantic Ocean a few months ago. They realized that he was old when they found him but after doing some tests, they discovered that he was an estimated 512 years old! That makes him the oldest shark and the oldest living vertebrae in the world.
Most of us would think that half a millennium was a very long time but it isn’t all that long for Greenland sharks. They tend to outlive most other animals because they reach a mature age when they are 150 years old and some of those sharks live for 400 years! Now that they have found a shark that is over 500 years old, it seems as if they have a record breaker.
In fact, this shark would have been born in 1505, which is just a few years after the Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci!
The publication, Journal Science was used to detail the discovery. It was made by Julius Nielsen, a Marine biologist and his team. A technique that measures the radiocarbon in the eye lenses of Greenland sharks was used to determine how old this shark is.
“It definitely tells us that this creature is extraordinary and it should be considered among the absolute oldest animals in the world,” the biologist told.
At least 28 Greenland sharks were used in the study and analyzed for the research paper. Since this new age determination method, it seems that a higher degree of accuracy has been brought to the field for the sharks. Older methods may not be as reliable.
Before this technique was used, the size of the animal would be used to determine their age. Sharks in the same family (Somniosidae) grow by about 0.4 inches every year. It can be used to give a rough estimate of the age but it is not scientifically accurate.
“Fish biologists have tried to determine the age and longevity of Greenland sharks for decades, but without success. Given that this shark is the apex predator (king of the food chain) in Arctic waters, it is almost unbelievable that we didn’t know whether the shark lives for 20 years, or for 1,000 years,” expert Steven Campana from the University of Iceland stated.
Nielsen has been involved in Greenland sharks research for the majority of his career. The sharks eat the carcasses of polar bears that are rotting in the ocean. Nielsen also says that the species will often have to deal with parasites that latch onto their eyes, which is why they tend to have an unhealthy appearance.
These sharks don’t stick around the same area forever because they live for so long. Sharks worldwide were used as a study but the genetic results were similar for all of them. It suggests that sharks may have originated from the same place and migrated to their respective areas. More information needs to be determined about Greenland sharks, including their method of reproduction. One thing that is known is that they prefer to stay in the icy waters of the Arctic.
Scientists are also looking for information as to why the Greenland shark lives so much longer than other vertebrates. They hope that research about the genes of the shark will also help to improve the life expectancy of other species.
“This is the longest living vertebrate on the planet,” he said. “Together with colleagues in Denmark, Greenland, USA, and China, we are currently sequencing its whole nuclear genome which will help us discover why the Greenland shark not only lives longer than other shark species but other vertebrates.”
The research scientist was asked about the way that this shark could have reached more than 500 years of age. He said that he thinks it may be a combination of a slow metabolism and the cold water. After saying that, he admits that further research is needed and his explanation is only a theory.
“The answer likely has to do with a very slow metabolism and the cold waters that they inhabit. I’m just the messenger on this. I have no idea.”