Which animals have the longest lifespan? The story of a man who lived three hundred years of sensation; perception; representation

They have long diverged in the definitions of how long a person lived in ancient times. According to archaeologists - 20-30 years. According to the Bible - seven to nine centuries. It is possible that the truth lies somewhere in between...

... In 1974, Lebanon (a French colony in 1918-1943) demanded that France return 12 Phoenician mummies that were taken out of the country in 1921-1926. expedition of French scientists, and then disappeared. It is still unclear whether the "cocoons" of the ancient Phoenicians were sold to private collections, given to museums, or even stolen. In 1991 and 2004 the Lebanese repeated the request, but there was no response from France. According to the Lebanese side, the mummies were seized in the city of Byblos and the temple complex of Baalbek: in the 20s of the XX century. French archaeologists excavated there: Pierre Monte and Maurice Dunand. It would seem, what's new? The British Museum does not return Greece for 200 years, and Venice refuses to return the throne of the Byzantine emperors. However, in early July, the Lebanese press, citing anonymous sources, reported that mummies have been studied in the laboratories of the French intelligence services for half a century. For what reason? Allegedly, back in 1962, an analysis of mummies showed that each of the 12 Phoenicians died at about the age of ... 300 years!

rejuvenated by blood

As you understand, there is no documentary confirmation of this information, - explains Vice Director of the Byblos Archive Alexander Dzhemir. -

I can only say that the study of longevity in Phenicia was carried out at the state level. King Hiram I, who ruled from 969-936. BC e., ordered the priests of Baal to find a recipe for eternal youth. For their research, they even built two temples in Byblos and Baalbek. What happened next is unknown. Hiram obviously did not wait for the recipe - he died at the age of 53.

Meanwhile, 9 out of 12 mysterious mummies were found by Monte and Dunand precisely during the excavations of the temple of Baal in northern Lebanon. By order of the king, the priests were not to leave the building without finding the "secret of the miracle." Hiram burned with the idea of longevity: in addition to the experiment with the priests, he equipped a sea expedition to the mysterious country of Ophir. This state (mentioned in the Bible) was ruled by six elders in masks hiding their faces, each aged from 300 to 500 (!) years. The common people did not lag behind the kings then: in Carthage (also a Phoenician colony), until the beginning of the Punic Wars, women had the right to wash themselves with the blood of murdered slaves once a year: if the ceremony was carried out according to the rules of the moon goddess Tanit, then she had to have mercy and take it for herself " 20 years old." In 264 BC. e. this brutal procedure was banned by the city council, and since then blood rejuvenation was allowed ... only to the priestesses of Tanith.

In the basements of the temple of Baal, archaeologists have found entire rooms filled with human bones, - says historian Rahim Heydar. - Baal was a monstrous god - the Phoenicians sacrificed even children to him. However, such things happened in public, during the festivities. Why the priests killed so many people in the dungeons - there is no explanation. Either they prayed to Baal to grant longevity to King Hiram with the help of continuous sacrifices, or ... they tested the drug they created on living slaves. It remains to be assumed that the mummies found in the temple are the bodies of priests who nevertheless managed to create the "elixir of life". And it is clear why they are not given back ... After all, the recipe for longevity costs much more than a million oil wells.

Have kids at 90?

…Historians and the Bible have long disagreed on how long people lived in antiquity. Studies of the remains show: the average life expectancy during the reign of the Ramses dynasty in Egypt was 25-30 years ... At 40, a person was considered an old man. The Bible insists: Adam lived 930 years, his son Seth - 912, Noah (who built the ark) - 950, and the most important biblical centenarian is Methuselah, who went to paradise at ... 969 years! At 90, according to the Bible, these people gave birth to children, and at 125 they were considered to have entered the age of maturity. Could this be? The church historian Eusebius of Caesarea in his notes reported that they ruled the country for 100 years, and one such case was documented - this is Pharaoh Pepi II, who sat on the throne at the age of six and died 94 years later (in 2184 BC) . In other words, if we transfer this to modern realities, then Pepi II has reached the age of ... 400 years!

Even among the ancient chroniclers there were disputes why some people are given longevity, while others are not, - notes Lebanese historian Armen Adabashian. - Herodotus wrote about a special source in Ethiopia: drinking its water, many Ethiopian kings and their courtiers lived to be 200 years old. Of course, 75% of such rumors are legends, but ... why not allow the version that there were still mixtures of natural medicines that allowed the rulers of ancient states to live longer than their subjects?

...Most likely, the dispute between Lebanon and France will not end in anything. Something else is much more interesting: were there really people 3000 years ago who could live for three to five centuries thanks to miracle drugs? Alas, the answer to this question will not be received soon.

Where did the ancient countries disappear - Ophir, El Dorado, Saguenay and Hyperborea? Did they really exist? Read about it in the next issue of AiF.

Long life has always attracted the attention of mankind. Recall at least attempts to create a philosopher's stone, one of the functions of which was to be immortality. Yes, and in modern times there are a lot of diets, recommendations about life and numerous pseudo-secrets that supposedly allow a person to live longer than fellow tribesmen. However, no one has yet been able to guarantee an increase, which is why people are curious about those who still managed to do it.

Let's define terms

First of all, it is necessary to figure out who should be classified as "Long-livers of the planet." The most common definition is those whose age has exceeded 90 years. In this case, these people are quite a lot. Only in Russia there are about 350 thousand of them. Some sources suggest that those who have already celebrated their centennial anniversary are considered centenarians. And this is also not a record - there are almost seven thousand such people among Russians.

The second difficulty is who to believe and how to check. Any person can claim that he has turned, say, 150, and do it quite convincingly if he knows the history of his native land well. So the long-livers of the planet are conditionally divided into two groups: verified (that is, those whose age is documented) and conjectural - those who cannot accurately prove the date of birth.

And the third problem: to choose a winner from those who are still alive, or to take into account everyone who has crossed the mark of 110 years? After all, many centenarians of the planet, the list of which is not so short, still managed to die.

Official record holder

The proven winner, who survived until 2012, was the Georgian Khvichava, who just fell short of 133 years. The documents confirming her birth in 1880 were found to be authentic, so that this oldest person (woman) was awarded an entry in the Guinness Book of Records and received a corresponding certificate. It is noteworthy that Khvichava maintained a lively mind until the last day. Despite the fact that her entire work experience was connected with agriculture, she was invariably interested in cutting-edge innovations: already shortly before her death, she wanted her relatives to teach her how to communicate with a computer. We can say that at the moment it is the oldest long-liver of the planet. No one has yet broken the record for the duration of earthly existence.

Second Winner

And this is also a woman. She died even earlier than Khvichava, in 1997, but until that time she confidently held the championship. This time, the former was born in France, five years earlier than the Georgian, but, alas, she died, nine years before she reached the next record. Her life span was limited to 122 and a half years. The name in the list "Long-livers of the planet" was also marked by an indefatigable sense of humor, demonstrated until the last day. In addition, the Frenchwoman was just a volcano of energy: at 85 she began to seriously fence, at 100 she became interested in cycling, and almost professionally.

Most common age

In the summer of 2013, another of those who are called long-livers of the planet died. He lived to be 115 years old, a Japanese from Kamiukawa named Jiroemon Kimura. He received the title of winner in 2012 due to the fact that there are no older people in the world who have evidence of their age in their hands. The recipes of centenarians, I must say, are diverse. If for Jeanne it was cheerfulness and activity, then for Kimura, first of all, a moderate and balanced diet.

By the way, the previous record holder, Christian Mortensen, a Dane by birth and an American by nationality, lived the same number of years (115). His contributions to long-lived recipes are no red meat, plenty of fish, optimism, friends and singing.

115 seems to be the most popular age for long-lived people. Puerto Rican del Toro also lived up to these years and was also among the champions. But at the moment, no one has reached this milestone, so now the oldest is again considered the Japanese Tomoji Tanabe, born in 1895. However, before the cherished date, he had not so much left.

general Statistics

Attention is drawn to the fact that there are much more women-centenarians than men. So, in 2007, 84 people were officially registered in the world, who were over 110 years old, and only nine of them were males.

There are almost two hundred thousand of those who are over 100, but less than 110 years old in the world, and the sex ratio is again not in favor of men, although not so depressing.

A lot of centenarians are given by Japan and mountainous countries, including Abkhazia, Georgia, Circassia, Azerbaijan. In Karachaevsk, a club has even been created called the Society of Centennial Anniversaries, which includes eight members, the youngest of whom is 104 years old. And in Japan, there are more than 28 thousand of those over 100, and this figure is growing every year.

Unofficial centenarians

However, so far we have listed those who, without any doubt, managed to prove their age. This list does not include other "most-most" - long-livers of the planet who did not have the opportunity to prove it for very objective reasons: wars, destroyed churches with records of newborns, small villages where there were no literates ... However, the likelihood of their declared age real is very high. Therefore, it is still worth mentioning the Hungarians Petrij and Zortai, who lived 186 and 185 years respectively, the Ossetian Tense Abzive, who reached 180, the Albanian Khanjer, who died at the age of 170, and the Pakistani Sayyad Mabud, who only a year did not reach 160.

Absolute record

If you do not require absolutely accurate evidence from the contender for the title, then the oldest long-liver of the planet has definitely already been established. The record belongs to a Chinese named Li Ching-Yun, who died in 1933. He himself considered the year of his birth 1736, that is, at the time of his death he was 197 years old. However, this age was refuted, and, oddly enough, in a big way. University professor Wu Changshin discovered documents showing Li's birth as early as 1677. Moreover, reliable, documented data on the congratulations of this person by the Chinese emperor have been preserved, and they refer to his anniversaries of 150 and 200 years. Such a double confirmation needs painstaking research, so that Lee's title in the category "Centenarians of the planet" has not yet been proven, but not refuted either.

Mysterious country

However, this is not the only and not the biggest mystery regarding the life span of individual representatives of humanity. For more than a decade, scientists have been haunted by the mystery of the Indian Hunza tribe. Its members do not get sick, do not suffer from caries, have excellent eyesight and live more than 110 years all without exception. And this despite the fact that the neighboring tribes have a complete set of all modern (and even forgotten by civilization) diseases, and the average does not even reach 60. The Hunza have their own recipes for centenarians: meat - only on holidays, vegetables - raw, and a lot of fruits . The main thing in these principles of nutrition is to never deviate from them. Even in spring, in the absence of fresh fruit, they do not deviate from the chosen path. Instead of breakfast-lunch-dinner in these difficult months, the Hunza once a day drink a glass of juice from fruits harvested last summer.

Perhaps the reasons for the longevity and relative youth of this people include their habit of swimming in ice water, as well as extreme physical activity. As a result, Hunza women and well over 60 give birth to healthy, viable offspring. And the researchers also noted the high natural cheerfulness of the Hunza, who attribute a significant part of their longevity to her account.

Scientists have not figured out why one another. There are no recipes for longevity applicable to all: someone did not deny themselves bad habits, someone ate only fish or fruits, someone led an active life, and someone allowed himself to be lazy ... The only common feature of all centenarians is optimism and cheerfulness. Maybe this is the cherished philosopher's stone?

Remember, in children's fairy tales it is very often mentioned that, they say, a certain positive hero, after certain, as a rule, successful deeds, rules, and lived for a long, long time? Surely many of us can remember even a few examples.

But have you ever thought about someone who actually lives 300 years? And are there such creatures in the world at all, or is all this longevity nothing more than another fiction of science fiction writers?

Let's try to understand the situation. In this article, from a scientific point of view, we will follow and justify who lives 300 years on planet Earth and whether this is possible in principle. The reader will get acquainted with several types of living beings and get a brief description of their life activity.

Section 1. General Information

Agree, the theme of immortality has always worried mankind. Perhaps it would be foolish to ask the question "why". Well, of course, the whole point is that this would allow people to have power over all living things. Can you imagine what would happen if we finally acquired the ability to regenerate unhealthy organs and restore lost limbs? To put it mildly, it would be great!

To date, the best scientists on the planet are working on the problem of life extension, but, unfortunately, this remains only within the limits of dreams.

But if for us this kind of possibility is just a fantasy, then for many animals it is in the order of things. Of course, they do not live forever, and just like us, they grow old and die over time, but compared to humans, these are real longevity champions. And some individuals even survived their brothers and were eyewitnesses of many historical events on the planet. It is a pity that we have not learned to understand them properly ... How much valuable information could be obtained!

So which animal living on Earth lives the longest? Are there any record holders? Let's take a look at a few compelling examples.

Section 2. Amazing red sea urchin

These mysterious sea creatures live in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, mainly off the western coast of North America. Red sea urchins prefer quiet places on the almost uninhabited ocean floor and usually live at a depth of at least 90 meters. Their life span is several centuries.

Scientists know that all of them move little, attach to the sea soil and feed mainly only on small organisms, which are swallowed with water and then filtered.

Modern researchers believe that echinoderms of this species are practically immortal and show no signs of aging. By the way, sea urchins and at the age of one hundred years are as prolific as their ten-year-old relatives. They can only die from diseases or predators.

Indeed, a sea urchin is one who lives 300 years, and maybe longer.

Section 3. Have you heard about the tuatara?

This mysterious animal was not properly studied until many years after its discovery. Subsequently, it turned out that such creatures disappeared from the face of the earth many millions of years ago, and the hatteria remained the only species of this order of reptiles.

It is extremely interesting that the internal structure of the organs of the tuatara has a similar physiology with the crocodile, turtle, fish and snake, as well as with the ancient, long-extinct megalosaurs, ichthyosaurs and teleosaurs.

Today, we can say with confidence that tuatara are contemporaries of the dinosaur era and can reach the age of two hundred years.

Section 4. Bowhead whale

The bowhead whale is dark in color and lacks a dorsal fin. The length of this giant mammal can reach 20 meters, and weight - 100 tons.

Unlike other whales that migrate elsewhere to breed, the bowhead whale lives only in arctic and subarctic waters. Unfortunately, these giants have been greatly reduced in our days, and they are certainly in danger.

In one of the articles by a scientist from the University of Alaska, Ned Rozelle, a whale over 210 years old is described. True, it should be noted that the accuracy of the method used to determine the age range was only 16%, which means that there is a huge probability that this animal could be 177-245 years old.

These studies show that the bowhead whale is one of the ancient mammals on the planet, although in the media, as a rule, there is information that turtles live for 300 years among the permanent inhabitants of the water depths, and for all other representatives of the underwater kingdom this is simply impossible . Worth considering...

Section 5 Hanako Koi

The koi carp belongs to the ornamental variety of common carps, which are bred in garden ponds familiar to all of us.

Fish of this species may have a different color, pattern or scale size. The most common colors are white, black, red, yellow, blue or cream.

Interestingly, the age of a carp can be calculated by the number of rings on the scales. By the way, the age of a tree is also determined by the rings located on the trunk. The oldest koi, Hanako, who died in July 1977, lived to be 226 years old.

Section 6. Giant tortoise

Long-lived reptiles include giant Seychelles tortoises, which are famous for their longevity. Their life expectancy averages 100-150 years. Of course, they cannot be attributed to those who actually live 300 years, but, according to the research of modern scientists, one of these representatives of the mentioned species was the Advaita tortoise, which surpassed all its relatives and lived for more than 250 years.

Advaita spent the last century of her existence in captivity in the Calcutta Zoo, where she died at a fairly advanced age. Even the lack of natural habitat and limited space did not affect, which in most cases, as a rule, adversely affects animals.

Section 7. Goldfish Tishka

Decorative fish that live in aquariums do not differ in particular vitality and longevity, often get sick and die. Usually they please their owners for no more than one year. But one goldfish named Tish became a real record holder for love of life and spent 43 years in the aquarium.

The owners accidentally won a small fish at an auction. With them, she spent her whole life until old age. She got into the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest aquarium fish in the world.

Section 8. Does a Raven Really Live for 300 Years?

In general, I would immediately like to note that such a statement is nothing more than a myth invented by lovers of these birds and connecting many mysteries, legends and secrets with them.

So, let's try to figure it out and look at the problem from a scientific point of view. How long does a raven live? 300 years? 200? Or maybe he is completely immortal?

It has always been believed that these representatives of the genus of birds can live for more than a hundred years. But, speaking about the life span of these birds, you need to decide which crows will be discussed. What is the snag? Let's try to explain. The thing is that there are two species: crows and crows, each of which has its own life expectancy, depending on the habitat and content.

So, crows. In nature, these living beings are subject to various diseases, attacks by enemies and malnutrition. Given that these birds live mainly next to humans, the ecological situation in large cities is also of great importance. What follows from this? Very simple! To the question of what kind of bird lives for 300 years, you can safely answer: definitely not a crow! In captivity, she can live up to 30 years, and in nature - no more than 10-15.

Their Crow cousins are much larger and more beautiful, their jet black plumage glittering and shimmering with green, blue and purple. However, the question "why crows live 300 years", unfortunately, can be classified as rhetorical. Why? The thing is that this longevity, like the stories that these birds have nine human lives, is nothing more than a beautiful legend, not supported by any scientific facts.

And yet, how long do ravens live? In fact, individual individuals in captivity can live up to a maximum of 70 years. And in natural habitats, their life span is even shorter - 30-40 years, on average, birds die at the age of 10-15 years.

Section 9. Immortal inhabitant of the planet Earth

True, isn't it, but the jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula, which lives in tropical and temperate waters, is considered an immortal inhabitant of our planet.

The uniqueness of this creature is that it is able to reverse its life cycle of development - from an adult, it again returns to the initial stage, turning into a small polyp. The secret of the eternal life of the jellyfish lies in the ability of transdifferentiation, which consists in the transformation of cells of one type into another. This phenomenon is still little studied by scientists.

An adult jellyfish, having reached puberty, settles on the seabed, retracts its tentacles and begins to turn into a polyp. The transformation of the cells of the whole body can take place indefinitely, so these creatures are able to live forever. It has been proved that the death of gelatinous organisms of the mentioned species is not associated with old age. Various diseases and predators pose a great danger to them. Thanks to a peculiar gift of rebirth, these jellyfish inhabit almost the entire world's oceans, and they are not threatened with extinction.

Scientists are interested in studying the phenomenon of the immortality of jellyfish. All research is carried out in the laboratory, and experts hope that scientific work will help reveal the secret of eternal life and youth. Well, as they say, wait and see!

Section 1. General Information

To date, the best scientists on the planet are working on the problem of life extension, but, unfortunately, this remains only within the limits of dreams.

But if for us this kind of opportunity is just a fantasy, then for many animals it is. Of course, they do not live forever, but just like us, they grow old and die over time, but compared to humans, they are real champions in longevity. And some individuals even survived their brothers and were eyewitnesses of many historical events on the planet. It is a pity that we have not learned to understand them properly ... How much valuable information could be obtained!

So which animal living on Earth lives the longest? Are there any record holders? Let's take a look at a few compelling examples.

Section 2. Amazing red sea urchin

Scientists know that all of them move little, attach to the sea soil and feed mainly only on small organisms, which are swallowed with water and then filtered.

Indeed, a sea urchin is one who lives 300 years, and maybe longer.

Section 3. Have you heard about the tuatara?

Today, we can say with confidence that tuatara are contemporaries of the dinosaur era and can reach the age of two hundred years.

Section 4. Bowhead whale

The bowhead whale is dark in color and lacks a dorsal fin. The length of this giant mammal can reach 20 meters and weight - 100 tons.

Unlike other whales that migrate to other places to breed, it lives only in arctic and subarctic waters. Unfortunately, these giants have been greatly reduced in our days, and they are certainly in danger.

Section 5 Hanako Koi

The koi carp belongs to the ornamental variety of common carps, which are bred in garden ponds familiar to all of us.

Fish of this species may have a different color, pattern or scale size. The most common colors are white, black, red, yellow, blue or cream.

Section 6. Giant tortoise

Section 7. Goldfish Tishka

The owners accidentally won a small fish at an auction. With them, she spent her whole life until old age. She got into the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest aquarium fish in the world.

Section 8. Does a Raven Really Live for 300 Years?

In general, I would immediately like to note that such a statement is nothing more than a myth invented by lovers of these birds and connecting many mysteries, legends and secrets with them.

So, let's try to figure it out and look at the problem from a scientific point of view. 300 years? 200? Or maybe he is completely immortal?

And yet, how long do ravens live? In fact, individual individuals in captivity can live up to a maximum of 70 years. And in natural habitats, their lifespan is even shorter - 30-40 years, on average, birds die at the age of 10-15 years.

Section 9. Immortal inhabitant of the planet Earth

True, isn't it, but the jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula, which lives in tropical and temperate waters, is considered an immortal inhabitant of our planet.

The uniqueness of this creature is that it is able to reverse its life cycle of development - from an adult, it again returns to the initial stage, turning into a small polyp. The secret lies in the ability of transdifferentiation, which consists in the transformation of cells of one type into another. This phenomenon is still little studied by scientists.

We humans are proud of our long (and increasingly longer) lives, but the surprising fact is that in terms of longevity Homo sapiens significantly inferior to some other representatives, including sharks, whales, and even or. In this article, you will learn about the 11 longest-lived representatives of various species in order of increasing life expectancy.

The longest living insect is the termite queen (50 years)

Usually people think that insects only live for a few days or weeks, but if you're particularly important, all the rules don't apply. Regardless of the species, a termite colony is ruled by a king and queen. After being inseminated by a male, the queen slowly ramps up her production of eggs, starting with a few dozen and eventually reaching around 25,000 eggs per day (of course, not all of these eggs mature). Not the dinner of predators, termite queens have been known to reach the age of 50, and kings (who spend almost their entire lives locked in a nuptial chamber with their prolific queens) also have relatively long lives. As for the simple worker termites that make up the bulk of the colony, they live for a maximum of one to two years. Such is the fate of the ordinary slave.

Longest-lived fish - koi (50 years)

In the wild, fish rarely live longer than a few years, and even aquarium goldfish require good care to reach a decade. But many fish in the world would envy the colored koi popular in Japan and other parts of the world, including the US. Like other cyprinids, koi can withstand a wide variety of environmental conditions, although (especially given their bright colors that people like), they are not particularly well camouflaged to protect themselves from predators. Individual koi are estimated to live over 200 years, but the most widely accepted estimate among scientists is 50 years, which is much longer than the average inhabitant of your tank.

Longest living bird - macaw (100 years)

These colorful parrots are able to breed throughout their lives: the females incubate the eggs and take care of the chicks, while the males forage for food. With a lifespan of up to 60 years in the wild and up to 100 years in captivity, macaws are almost as good as humans. Ironically, although these birds can live for a very long time, many species are endangered due to the desire of people to keep them as pets and logging. The longevity of macaws and other members of the parrot family begs the question: since birds evolved from dinosaurs, and since we know that many dinosaurs were just as small and colorful, could some of these prehistoric reptiles have reached the age of a century?

The longest-lived amphibian is the European proteus (100 years)

If you are asked to name animals that regularly reach the age limit, then the blind amphibian is the European Proteus ( Proteus anguinus) will probably be last on your list: how can a fragile, eyeless, caveman, 30 cm amphibian survive in the wild for even a couple of weeks? Naturalists attribute the longevity of the European Proteus to an unusually slow metabolism. These amphibians reach sexual maturity only at 15 years old, and also lay eggs no more than once every 12 years. They practically do not move, except when looking for food. Moreover, in the damp caves of Southern Europe, where the European proteus lives, there are practically no predators, which allows them to live up to 100 years in the wild. In comparison, the Japanese giant salamander, which is the second longest-lived amphibian, rarely crosses the 50-year mark.

Longest living primate - human (100 years)

It is not uncommon for humans to live to be 100 years old or more, making us the longest living primates. There are about half a million people in the world who are about 100 years old. Tens of thousands of years ago Homo sapiens was considered old if he lived to 20-30 years, and until the 18th century, the average life expectancy rarely exceeded 50 years. The main culprits were high infant mortality and susceptibility to fatal diseases. However, at any point in human history, if you managed to survive early childhood and adolescence, your chances of living into 50, 60, or even 70 have greatly increased. To what can we attribute this amazing increase in longevity? Well, in a word, civilization, especially sanitation, medicine, nutrition and cooperation (during the ice age, a tribe of people most likely left their elderly relatives to starve in the cold, and today we make special efforts to take care of our relatives in their eighties.)

The longest living mammal is the bowhead whale (200 years old)

As a general rule, larger mammals have comparatively long lifespans, but even by this standard, bowhead whales are way ahead, often exceeding the 200-year mark. Recently, analysis of the bowhead whale genome has shed some light on this mystery: it turns out that these whales have unique genes that help in DNA repair and resistance to mutations (and therefore cancer). Because the bowhead whale lives in arctic and subarctic waters, its relatively slow metabolism may also have something to do with longevity. Today, about 25,000 bowhead whales live in the northern hemisphere, a positive trend in population recovery since 1966, when a major international effort was made to deter whalers.

Longest living reptile - giant tortoise (300 years)

The giant tortoises of the Galápagos and Seychelles are classic examples of "island gigantism" - the tendency of animals restricted to island habitats and without natural predators to grow to unusually large sizes. And these turtles have a lifespan that perfectly matches their weight of 200 to 500 kg. Giant tortoises are known to live longer than 200 years, and there is every reason to believe that in the wild they regularly overcome the 300-year mark. Like some of the other animals on this list, the reasons for the longevity of giant tortoises are obvious: these reptiles move very slowly, their basal metabolism is extremely low, and their life stages tend to be relatively long (for example, the Aldabra giant tortoise reaches sexual maturity only at age 30).

Longest-lived shark - Greenland shark (400 years)

If there was justice in the world, the bowhead shark would be as famous as the great white shark: it is also big (some adults exceed 1000 kg) and much more exotic given its northern arctic habitat. You might think that the Greenland Shark is as dangerous as the Jaws Star, but while a hungry white shark will bite you in half, the Grenadian Shark is relatively harmless to humans. However, the most remarkable fact about the Greenland shark is its lifespan of over 400 years. This longevity is due to the cold habitat and very low metabolism. Surprisingly, these sharks reach sexual maturity after 100 years, while most of the others at this age are not only sexually inactive, but have long been dead!

The longest-lived mollusk is the Icelandic cyprina ( Arctica islandica) (500 years)

A 500-year-old clam sounds like a joke, since most clams are virtually immobile, and how can you tell for sure if it's alive or not? However, there are scientists who research such things, and they have determined that the Icelandic cyprina ( Arctica islandica) can literally live for centuries, as evidenced by one specimen that has surpassed the 500-year mark (you can tell the age of a clam by counting the growth rings on its shell). Ironically, the Icelandic cyprina is also a popular food in some parts of the world, meaning that most shellfish will never be able to celebrate their quincentenary. Biologists have yet to figure out why Arctica islandica live so long, but one reason could be relatively stable antioxidant levels, which prevent the damage responsible for most of the signs of aging in animals.

The longest living microorganisms are endoliths (10,000 years)

Determining the life span of microorganisms is a rather complicated process. In a sense, all bacteria are immortal, as they spread their genetic information by constantly dividing (not, like most higher animals, by having sex). The term "endoliths" refers to algae, or algae, that live deep underground in rock crevices, corals, and animal shells. Studies have shown that some individuals from endolithic colonies undergo cell division only once every hundred years, and their lifespan reaches 10,000 years. Technically, this is different from the ability of some microorganisms to revive after stagnation or deep freezing after tens of thousands of years. Endoliths are literally constantly "alive", although not very active. They are autotrophic organisms, metabolizing not with oxygen or sunlight, but with inorganic chemicals that are virtually inexhaustible in their habitats.

Longest living invertebrate - Turritopsis dohrnii (potentially immortal)

There is no reliable way to determine how many years the average jellyfish lives. These are so fragile that they do not lend themselves to intensive research in laboratories. However, no rating of long-lived animals would be complete without mentioning Turritopsis dohrnii- a species of jellyfish that is able to return to the polyp stage after reaching puberty, which makes them potentially immortal. However, it is almost unbelievable that any individual T. dohrnii could live for millions of years. Biological "immortality" doesn't mean you won't be eaten by other animals or killed by sudden changes in environmental conditions. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to keep jellyfish T. dohrnii in captivity, a feat that has so far been accomplished by only one scientist working in Japan.