These animals outlive humans: Top 10 longest living critters

By Seth Borenstein
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Washington (AP) – More than a dozen animals live longer than we do. A new study estimates that at least one Greenland shark lived about 392 years, making it the longest-living animal with a backbone.

This undated photo made available by Julius Nielsen on Aug. 11, 2016 shows a Greenland shark slowly swimming away from a boat, returning to the deep and cold waters of the Uummannaq Fjord in northwestern Greenland during tag -and- release program in Norway and Greenland. In a report released Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016, scientists calculate this species of shark is Earth’s oldest living animal with a backbone. They estimate that one of those they examined was born roughly 400 years ago, about the time of the Pilgrims in the U.S., and kept on swimming until it died only a couple years ago. (Julius Nielsen via AP)
This undated photo made available by Julius Nielsen on Aug. 11, 2016 shows a Greenland shark slowly swimming away from a boat, returning to the deep and cold waters of the Uummannaq Fjord in northwestern Greenland during tag -and- release program in Norway and Greenland. In a report released Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016, scientists calculate this species of shark is Earth’s oldest living animal with a backbone. They estimate that one of those they examined was born roughly 400 years ago, about the time of the Pilgrims in the U.S., and kept on swimming until it died only a couple years ago. (Julius Nielsen via AP)

Here are the animals that the scientific longevity database AnAge says have lived the longest. Many of these live in the cold and in water.

The longest-living human reached 122.5 years.

  1. Hexactinellid sponge: One of these Antarctic sponges lived for an estimated 15,000 years.
  2. Epibenthic sponge: Another Antarctic sponge that is generally estimated to live 1,550 years.
  3. Ocean quahog: This clam, nicknamed “Ming,” had its rings measured and it had lived 507 years.
  4. Greenland shark: A new study estimates the age of one of these sharks at 392, but it could have been somewhere between 512 and 272 years old when it died.
  5. Bowhead whale: One male bowhead living in the Arctic waters was estimated to be 211 years old when it died.
  6. Rougheye rockfish: These red fish of the North Pacific have lived to be 205 years old and show little effects of aging in life.
  7. Red sea urchin: The spiny critters also don’t seem to age much and are estimated to live about 200 years.
  8. Galapagos tortoise: These slow moving creatures seen by Charles Darwin have lived as long as 177 years.
  9. Shortraker rockfish: These orange-pink fish have lived up to 157 years.
  10. Aldabra tortoise and Lake sturgeon: A tortoise that died at a zoo was 152 years old; unconfirmed reports put some of these tortoises living up to 180 years. One lake sturgeon, a bottom-feeder fish, is reported to have lived to be 152.

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