Oldest living vertebrate animal lives to 400 years old

Posted by Dobrien 7 years, 8 months ago to Science
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She was born during the reign of James I, was a youngster when René Descartes set out his rules of thought and the great fire of London raged, saw out her adolescent years as George II ascended the throne, reached adulthood around the time that the American revolution kicked off, and lived through two world wars. Living to an estimated age of nearly 400 years, a female Greenland shark has set a new record for longevity, scientists have revealed.
SOURCE URL: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/11/400-year-old-greenland-shark-is-the-oldest-vertebrate-animal


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  • Posted by Zenphamy 7 years, 8 months ago
    And knew nothing of what went on above her.
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    • Posted by 7 years, 8 months ago
      Good evening Zenphamy, so true as we know little of what goes on underwater. I have heard we have only explored 7% or so of the oceans and their depths. Much to discover. One observation is that we seem to under estimate life and it's amazing resiliency from what it can survive, to how long it can live and what abilities it utilizes.
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      • Posted by Zenphamy 7 years, 8 months ago
        We find life in the higher atmosphere and at the deepest of our drillings into the Earth. Many of us separate, in our thinking, of the Earth as one thing and of life as something else and, more--us as separate from both. Life is an intricately woven tapestry of multitudinous units, each existing within it's own time frame and much like the brief flare of an ignited match, compared to the time frame of the Solar System, much less that of the Universe--some with moments, or days, or years, or centuries, and a couple with millennia, but all effecting each other.
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  • Posted by Herb7734 7 years, 8 months ago
    I wonder if she gets arthritis?
    Good thing she lives in the water.
    I'll bet she is slowing down in trying to run down her food.
    Probably has learned to wait in ambush.
    Of course, it would be a shark. Why couldn't it be a nice cuddly cute Koala bear?
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    • Posted by 7 years, 8 months ago
      Good Evening Herb7734,
      There are pluses and minuses for living a long life.
      As you age you gain wisdom but also more
      ailments. Living in the cool ocean near Greenland
      must be good for the joints.
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      • Posted by Herb7734 7 years, 8 months ago
        Puleeze.
        When I was 18 I already knew everything worth knowing. At least that's what I thought. Truth be told, at my age I have garnered knowledge and am in full control of mind and emotion. But my body's such a wreck that there's not much I can do about it.
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        • Posted by 7 years, 8 months ago
          Herb7734, my folks are slightly older than you sir, they have both maintained a sharp mind but the health issues are a concern. I wish you comfort and happiness. Also I appreciation your wisdom.
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  • Posted by $ Abaco 7 years, 8 months ago
    Isn't that neat? I try to spend about a week each year on the ocean, chasing tuna. Have seen some really beautiful life way out there. My favorite so far may be a pod of sperm whales, including several babies. I never thought I'd see those. It was really neat.
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    • Posted by 7 years, 8 months ago
      There is endless beauty to be seen in this world.
      The vision of baby sperm whales swimming in a pod must have been terrific . All it takes is to observe , be aware of the life unfolding in front of us, and the freedom to do so.
      Good day, Abaco
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  • Posted by johnpe1 7 years, 8 months ago
    fascinating! . we keep learning about nature, and maybe --
    just maybe -- we might learn that Capitalism Works! -- j
    .
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    • Posted by 7 years, 8 months ago
      Hi johnpe 1,
      We know Capitalism works! It is the looters in
      the government that doesn't work.
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      • Posted by johnpe1 7 years, 8 months ago
        "we" as a society, I mean ... if the majority wanted
        capitalism, we might stand a chance of making it! -- j
        .
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        • Posted by 7 years, 8 months ago
          Education , the media , and politicians all bash capitalism even the giant corps and super wealthy
          do. Changing the mindset will take a tumultuous event and a period of time. Ayn Rand described in Atlas Shrugged a period when everyone suffered from the corrupt looters evil manipulations. Shortages of basic necessities , energy , food, and transportation . The number of folks who vote for food or their pet cause overwhelm a reasonable
          Small govt approach.
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          • Posted by johnpe1 7 years, 8 months ago
            yes, Dan, and I wonder if the national debt "crisis"
            will precipitate the change. -- j
            .
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            • Posted by 7 years, 8 months ago
              It is a huge potential . I have commented many times that the cows have already left the barn. We are still adding 500billion a year to the massive 19 trillion .If interest rates were at the 100 year avg for govt bonds the annual interest would be 1 trillion a year. With some 40% of the working age citizen not working
              They would not vote for any fiscal responsibility .
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  • Posted by Riftsrunner 7 years, 8 months ago
    While I like the idea of a shark living to be about 400 years old, I take radiometric dating of carbon-14 from ocean animals with a grain of salt. I say this because there have been some major dating anomalies associated with carbon-14 in ocean life that creationists jump on to show that radiometric dating is unreliable. This is because Nitrogen-14 in the atmosphere is constantly being bombarded by cosmic rays and is converted into Carbon-14 and animals incorporate this Carbon at a relatively constant level. However, ocean animals that eat animals and plants from the depths of the oceans frequently have a lower Carbon-14 content due to the Carbon-14 poor regions in the deep depths. So dating them can produce a false aging due to the lower content than would normally be found in animals closer to the surface. Greenland sharks have never been seen hunting live prey and are considered scavengers feeding in the depths, so it is possible they may be a long lived species or they could have a diet that consists of Carbon-14 poor prey.
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    • Posted by 7 years, 8 months ago
      Good evening Riftsrunner, thanks for your informative comments. The dating of artifacts or fossils or sea creatures are all estimates. I believe
      The scientists used the best testing to determine
      Age currently available, the article discusses the technique used .
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  • Posted by $ allosaur 7 years, 8 months ago
    All those many, many,many years you swim and eat, swim and eat, swim and eat, after 150 years you get some fishy sex but it is still mostly swim and eat, swim and eat, swim and eat, and if you're female you make babies however a Greenland shark does it but that hardly breaks the monotony because it is almost always swim and eat, swim and eat, swim and eat and how the heck you never got ate up by a pod of killer whales for all of 400 years you'll never know as you swim and eat, swim and eat, swim and eat . . . yawn . . .
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    • Posted by 7 years, 8 months ago
      Hi old Dino, did you ever meet her mother? just kidding . This type of shark grows to over 18 feet long . It is a slow swimmer avg about .76 mph. They have been observed swimming 7000 ft below the surface. There is a weird Inuit myth about the smell of this very toxic fish. The Icelandic people enjoy it as a delicacy after treating it to remove the toxin. After all that swimming and eating. They weigh up to 850 lbs.
      Good evening.
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      • Posted by $ allosaur 7 years, 8 months ago
        Good morning. Thought I'd better check the bottom of my too much email in case I had a message from an actual person.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuoKN...
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        • Posted by 7 years, 8 months ago
          Frankenstein , the wolfman , and Count Dracula I loved watching those movies on saturday as a kid.
          Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney they were captivating and the sets were fabulous.
          Speaking of sets "the Creature from the Black Lagoon was a favorite .Filmed in the Florida Panhandle. Also loved anything with Dinosaurs.
          Thanks for the nostalgia.
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          • Posted by $ allosaur 7 years, 8 months ago
            I was fortunate enough to see all the classic old horror movies when I was a kid.
            There always seemed to be some local TV show that would feature horror movies every Saturday night.
            Over the last couple of months I've been trying to return to that Saturday night tradition with a DVD flick.
            Last Saturday night I watched a Netflix-sent Norwegian disaster movie called The Wave. It was pretty good.
            Netflix should send me an Elvira today.
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            • Posted by freedomforall 7 years, 8 months ago
              I remember watching Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 version) after school and being completely fascinated. Then at 6pm the local channel truncated the program to do the local news and never broadcast the ending of the movie!
              It was ten YEARS before I saw the last couple of scenes. Talk about a cliff hanger!
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              • Posted by $ allosaur 7 years, 8 months ago
                WTVY of Dothan did that while I was watching a western movie as a kid. Never forgot it for the sheer outrageous
                of it all.
                It was the classic scene. The good guy and the bad guy met each other ready to go for their guns.
                The local news beat them to the draw.
                WTVY is located on the opposite side oif Dothan from where I live. Young dino had that in mind when a weatherman said there was no chance of rain while there was a summer shower outside with some thunder..
                Oh, The (original) Invasion of the Body Snatchers eluded me until I was a young adult with the Marines and a later college graduation behind me. Think I saw a remake first with Donald Sutherland in it. At the end he points at a survivor and goes "EEEEE!"
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