There is a shark that is said to be almost 400 years old and is the oldest alive today. To put that in context, the United States of America was not a country at the time of its birth and James I was still King of England.
The oldest shark in the world found, would be 397 years old
According to the study, the animals, which grow at a rate of about one centimeter per year, also reach sexual maturity around 150 years.
@ juniel85 With many fish, scientists often examine the bones of the ear, which form a series of concentric rings, much like the rings in a tree.
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The incredible discovery was made during a study on a group of Greenland sharks in the North Atlantic in 2016, and using radiocarbon dating, they were able to estimate that one of the females of a group of 28 sharks, which measured around five meters in height.
length, it was about 392 years old, although they noted at the time that the range extended from 272 to 512 years.
According to the study, the animals, which grow at a rate of about one centimeter per year, also reach sexual maturity around 150 years.
Speaking about the discovery at the time, marine biologist and lead author of the paper Julius Nielsen said: “We had our expectations that we were dealing with an unusual animal, but I think everyone who did this research was very surprised to learn that sharks they were as old as they were.” With many fish, scientists often examine the ear bones, which form a series of concentric rings, much like the rings on a tree.
He told the publication: “Fish biologists have tried to determine the age and longevity of Greenland sharks for decades, but without success.” Given that this shark is the top predator (king of the food chain) in Arctic waters, it is almost unbelievable that we didn’t know if the shark lives 20 years or 1000 years.
However, Greenland sharks are more difficult to detect age, as there are no parts of your body showing layers of growth.
Instead, they had to analyze the proteins in the lens of your eyes, which form in the womb. They did this with radiocarbon dating, a method that is based on determining the level of carbon-14, which undergoes radioactive decay over time.
This was later combined with the fact that atomic bomb testing in the The 1950s led to an increase in carbon-14 levels, which entered seafood in subsequent years, and allowed them to estimate ages.
For example, the two smallest sharks in the group had the highest levels of carbon-14, suggesting that they were probably born around the 1960s.
At the time, Steven Campana, a shark expert at the University of Iceland, He told The Guardian that it was quite surprising that a shark could survive that long.
