New record: World’s oldest animal is(was) 507 years old

In autumn 2006 a team of researchers went on an expedition to Iceland, where they discovered something that made the headlines across the world. The discovery even made it into the Guinness Book of World Records.

One of the Arctica islandica bivalve molluscs, also known as ocean quahogs, that the researchers picked up from the Icelandic seabed turned out to be around 405 years old, and thus the world’s oldest animal.

However, after taking a closer look at the old mollusc using more refined methods, the researchers found that the animal is actually 100 years older than they thought. The new estimate says that the mollusc is actually 507 years old:

I had no idea Molluscs lived to be this old. And evidently they may live to be much older, except...

The mollusc’s 507-year-long life came to an abrupt end in 2006 when the British researchers – unaware of the animal’s impressive age – opened up its shell to put it under scientific scrutiny.

Doh!!!

Rest in peace, Ming.

It seems Molluscs and trees have something in common. Rings are a good indicator of age for both. The likelihood is, there are older Molluscs around yet. Ming is just the oldest recorded so far.
Source

I have i question..what happen if we eat that 500 years old high zinc creature?
Really nice fine sir! Snf

cheesy
I have i question..what happen if we eat that 500 years old high zinc creature?

Really nice fine sir! Snf

That's a good question, Cheesy. An overdose of Zinc? LOL.

reply to post by Klassified

I wonder how long it would have lived if they hadn't killed it?

reply to post by Klassified


Those monsters...murdering the world's oldest animal. It's kind of funny how the researchers received angry phone calls about this. While I agree that it was inconsiderate to Ming to open his shell, god only knows how many ancient clams get eaten every day around the world. Let's all bow our heads in a moment of silence for the daily demise of the ancient ones...

I guess you could also say that curiosity killed the clam. I'll stop now...

reply to post by Arbitrageur

I was wondering the same thing. So far, I haven't found an estimate for possible lifespan.

Rest in peace, Ming.

It seems Molluscs and trees have something in common. Rings are a good indicator of age for both. The likelihood is, there are older Molluscs around yet. Ming is just the oldest recorded so far.

If that's a picture of Ming, and the rings we can see on the outer shell are the rings that are counted to determine age, then sadly, I must confess I'm pretty sure I've eaten some of his older relatives. Actually an awful lot of them.

Thanks - and damn you for ruining one of my favorite foods.

Riffrafter

Rest in peace, Ming.

It seems Molluscs and trees have something in common. Rings are a good indicator of age for both. The likelihood is, there are older Molluscs around yet. Ming is just the oldest recorded so far.

If that's a picture of Ming, and the rings we can see on the outer shell are the rings that are counted to determine age, then sadly, I must confess I'm pretty sure I've eaten some of his older relatives. Actually an awful lot of them.

Thanks - and damn you for ruining one of my favorite foods.

That's both sad and hilarious

reply to post by theantediluvian

That's both sad and hilarious

Thanks - because that's exactly how I feel right now so I'm glad I was able to convey it properly.

And note to the OP: If you post a similar article about an ancient scallop I swear I'm going to hunt you down...

Steamed with some long rice and a squeeze of lemon...Oh wait

RIP

reply to post by Klassified


We find, we conquer, we Kill
It's what we do!

reply to post by Klassified


the blanket blank guy who accidently killed the captive creature by cracking open its shell to study something or other should be indicted for first degree murder, tried, and put into a stock in the town square for a day - at a minimum. The poor thing lives for over 500 years and then is captured and tortured until it died.

Riffrafter
reply to post by theantediluvian

 

That's both sad and hilarious

Thanks - because that's exactly how I feel right now so I'm glad I was able to convey it properly.

And note to the OP: If you post a similar article about an ancient scallop I swear I'm going to hunt you down...

You know, I could swear I saw an article related to this one on scallops. Let me look... :-))

Wow, while THAT thing was around two years old, Ponce de León was setting foot in Puerto Rico...
When it was three, Henry the VIII became king...
When it was six, Michelangelo was busy painting the ceilings of the Sistine Chapel in Rome...
When it was eight, Copernicus was looking at Saturn for the first time...
When it was eleven, Martin Luther posted his 95 thesis on Wittenberg church...
When it was thirteen, Magellan began his circumnavigation of the earth...

When it was...well, hopefully you get the point

And while ALL of this was going on in the world, this clam was already busy filtering salty water and..."expelling" it...
Seriously, in 507 years imagine the quantity of sh** it put in the oceans... (O.o)

Is this thing... considered an "animal"?

Because if these sea creatures are considered "animals", then wouldn't Lobsters and those specific type of jelly fish would be a lot older than say 500 years?

Technically speaking, those things are immortal and never die.

The 'climate change' scientists killed the oldest living critter on Earth ....
I find that darkly ironic ... and not at all surprising.

reply to post by Aleister


for a moment, i thought you meant "stock", as in soup! if that were the case, we should make a chowder out of him!

Yea. Rest in delicious peace, Ming.

I can't believe people are outraged by this. HAHA!
Eating a clam is the closest you can get to eating a plant while still eating meat.

Not only that but plants communicate with one another.
Pretty soon all the vegan types are gonna have to starve themselves lest they be considered hypocrites.

JayinAR
I can't believe people are outraged by this. HAHA!
Eating a clam is the closest you can get to eating a plant while still eating meat.

Not only that but plants communicate with one another.
Pretty soon all the vegan types are gonna have to starve themselves lest they be considered hypocrites.

I say we shouldn't discriminate. Include plant, animal, and mineral in each meal.

I could really go for some mussels/clams steamed fresh and served with sea salt and watermelon.