December 20, 2024, 9:00 am | Read time: 7 minutes
As humans, we have a life expectancy of around 100 years if we stay healthy for a long time. However, there are some species that could laugh at this. PETBOOK presents the oldest animals in the world.
Many people are aware that many animals can live longer than humans. But which is actually the oldest animal of all? And how do you actually determine such superlatives? PETBOOK has embarked on a fascinating search for facts in the realm of the Methusalems and has chosen the oldest animals in the world in various categories.
The Oldest of All May Not Be an Animal at All
In our ranking, we focus primarily on animals whose maximum age has been scientifically determined. We have not included creatures that scientists believe to be practically immortal in this selection.
In addition, there is still some debate in the scientific community as to whether the first animal in this ranking is really one or whether sponges are perhaps plants after all. For this reason, number 1 has landed on the winner’s podium with reservations.
This is because sponges have no muscle, nerve, or sensory cells. However, they can live to a “beastly” age. It is assumed that the glass sponge can live for over 10,000 years. Some studies have also calculated an age of up to 15,000 years.
Similar to anemones, the glass sponge forms a symbiotic relationship with animals. In its hollow body, the sponge offers some shrimp species a luxurious couple’s home. However, it is impossible to move out in the event of a “relationship crisis,” as the shrimps are too large to leave the opening of the sponge again. In addition, its skeletal needles are made of opal and continue to harden over time. However, this is not a problem for the Stenopodidea shrimps, as they could not survive outside the sponges due to various adaptations, such as reduced sensory organs.
Oldest Coral Is Over 4000 Years Old
The next representative on the list belongs to the flower animals and, therefore, definitely to the Animalia. Even though we keep hearing that many corals are suffering from the warming of the sea, there are still some species that live at such depths that this does not affect them. One of these is the black coral. They have a skeleton and are sometimes also known as “little corals.” They are found on the sea floor at depths of 100 meters or more.
In 2009, a study was dedicated to the question of how old these corals can become. The researchers discovered that a black coral had been living off Hawaii for 4265 years. At that time, the Old Kingdom in Ancient Egypt, where the pyramids were built, was coming to an end. 1
The Oldest Vertebrate in the World
Not quite as old as the coral – but still a record-breaker – is the Greenland shark, the oldest vertebrate in the world. Back in 2016, researchers used a sophisticated technique to calculate the maximum age of the animals, also known as ice sharks. Previously, it was only known that they are extremely long-lived and only reach sexual maturity at 150 years of age. However, the fact that Greenland sharks could be contemporaries of Michelangelo or Christopher Columbus was surprising. 2
Oldest Mollusk and Oldest Mussel
The next animal is also a record-breaker – in more than one category. In a 2013 study, an Icelandic clam (Arctica islandica) was dated to an age of 507 years based on the growth rings in its shell. This even puts it in the Guinness Book of Records as the “oldest mollusk.”
Fittingly, it was christened “Ming” after the Chinese ruling dynasty that sat on the throne in 1499, the year of its birth. However, there is one fly in the ointment with this discovery: if the scientists had not frozen Ming in order to study her shell, the oldest mussel in the world could still be alive today. 3
Oldest Land Creature and Reptile in One
Many species of tortoise also travel at a leisurely pace but for a very long time. One example is Jonathan, who celebrated what is estimated to be his 190th birthday in 2022. However, we can only speculate about how old the Seychelles giant tortoise really is. When Jonathan was moved to the island of St. Helena in 1882, he was already fully grown. His vet, therefore, estimated that he was already around 50 years old at the time.
However, another tortoise that died in 2006 could have been even older than Jonathan. An elderly tortoise lady from India, who was christened Adwaita – which means “the one and only” in Sanskrit – is estimated to have been born around 1750. She would, therefore, have been born another 80 years before Jonathan and would have been 256 years old when she died. 4
In general, it has only ever been possible to estimate how old tortoises can really live. Perhaps Jonathan will be able to tell us one day. Or our great-grandchildren.
The Oldest Mammal
The category of “oldest mammal” is also won by an animal with the suffix “Greenland.” The bowhead whale, which can grow up to 18 meters long, can live to be well over 200 years old. Researchers believe that they have very effective methods of repairing their DNA and regenerating themselves.
However, bowhead whales have also been hunted more than almost any other species. Their slow way of swimming made them the “right whales” and easy prey. Thanks to metabolic adaptations similar to those of the Greenland shark, the animals can live in icy waters, and their cells age very slowly. It is not yet known how old bowhead whales can actually become if they are left alone. 5
The Oldest Fish in the World
The Greenland shark could actually win again in this category of our “The oldest animals in the world” ranking. However, there is another remarkable fish that can also live to be over 200 years old: the rough rockfish (Sebastes aleutianus).
At first glance, the deep-sea fish looks like an oversized goldfish, but the rockfish can grow up to 97 centimeters long and, on closer inspection, are more reminiscent of dragons. According to a 2001 study, one specimen was found to be 205 years old. 6
Oldest Amphibian
Even with the oldest amphibian, it is not yet known how old the animals can really live. This is because the olm prefers to live in completely dark and inaccessible caves. However, like many animals on this list, it has impressive regenerative abilities because it never leaves the larval stage. The darkness-loving olm virtually repairs itself again and again, so researchers assume that it can live for 100 years or even longer. However, research into the animals is extremely difficult due to their way of life and absolute aversion to light. 7
Sloths are not ranked number 1 The 8 slowest animals in the world
Specialized strategy Orcas observed hunting the world’s largest sharks for the first time
Significant decision Will Iceland finally ban whaling?
Oldest Bird in the World
Last but not least, in our ranking of the oldest animals in the world, we now present the longest-lived bird in the world. While many parrots and parakeets in human care can live for 80 years or more, there is one that has beaten them all. A yellow-crested cockatoo named Cocky Bennett from Australia is said to have been born in 1796 and died in 1916. From what we know, the bird was probably right to bear the name “Cocky,” meaning “cheeky” or “high-spirited.”
Accordingly, his 120 years of life are not only historical but actually a case for the history books. Many historians have already studied the Methuselah cockatoo, which, according to sources, was able to speak complete sentences and spent a large part of its life at sea with its owners. In the last decade of its life, it is said to have had no feathers at all. 8