The average person lives about eight decades, but plenty of animals routinely outlast that by a wide margin. Some, such as clams and sharks, grow so slowly that scientists use radiocarbon and shell rings to estimate their age. Here are ten animals that live far longer than humans.
1. Greenland shark: The Arctic deep-sea shark that may outlive centuries
The Greenland shark grows so slowly that its age was long a mystery. A 2016 study in Science, summarized on Wikipedia, dated eye-lens crystals with radiocarbon and put the oldest animal at about 392 years, with a margin of error of roughly 120 years.
Sharks of this species are estimated to reach sexual maturity at around 150 years. They cruise cold water between about 100 and 1,200 meters down, and typical adults measure four to five meters. Growth of only half a centimeter to a centimeter per year helps explain how a single shark can span several human lifetimes.