This greenland shark's age might be upto 512 year. and it is the longest living vertebrate on the planet.

It's hard to imagine something still alive that was born in 1505. That was the year that Martin Luther became a monk and King Henry VIII referred to as off his engagement with Catherine of Aragon... in short, a bloody while ago.

But that is precisely what scientists believe they need found within the variety of one massive Greenland shark swimming within the icy waters of the ocean.

The shark is calculable to be up to 512 years previous, which might make it the oldest living vertebrate within the world and even older than a dramatist. And you thought to turn thirty created you ancient.

Greenland sharks are known to measure for many years and pay most of their lives swimming around trying to find a mate. that is a protracted time to attend.

They conjointly grow at a rate of 1 cm a year, enabling scientists to see their age by measuring their size.

This explicit shark, one in all twenty-eight island sharks to be analyzed by the scientists, was measured at eighteen feet long and weighed over a weight unit, which means it can be anyplace between 272 and 512 years previous.

The shark's potential age was unconcealed in an exceedingly study within the Science journal, per the Sun.

If scientists have gotten the shark's age right, it might are alive throughout major historical events just like the commencement of the US, the commercial Revolution, and each World Wars. Crikey.
Greenland sharks largely eat fish however haven't truly been observed searching. Some have even been found to own caribou and even horse remains in their stomachs. The animal could be a delicacy in Norway however its flesh is toxic if not treated properly.
Because of their longevity, teachers in the Kingdom of Norway believe that the bones and tissues of Greenland sharks might provide US insight into the impact of global climate change and pollution over a protracted amount of history.

Researchers at the Arctic University of Norway are presently mapping the animal's deoxyribonucleic acid, gazing its genes to be told additional regarding what determines lifespan in several species, together with humans.

As several of the sharks pre-date the economic} Revolution and large-scale commercial fishing, the sharks have even been called 'living time capsules' that might help shed light on however human behavior impacts the oceans.