The 12 oldest animals living on Earth

When a person reaches 90 years of age, he is already considered a case of remarkable longevity. If we think about the animal world, 90 years could still be the age of a baby. Some animals are even named after living fossils, since dinosaurs are their direct relatives.

Today the awesome.club wants you to take a look at some creatures that have lived on Earth for a long time. Some were born before the Age of Discovery. And be sure to check out the bonus we prepared at the end of the post.

The tuatara is a small reptile that lives in New Zealand. It looks like a lizard, but is actually part of a lineage related to dinosaurs, which lived on Earth over 200 million years ago. Although this species is threatened with extinction, some live a long time, reaching over 110 years old.

The clockfish is a long-lived, slow-growing animal. The longest recorded longevity was 149 years and unfortunately they are threatened with extinction because of fishing.

The giant clam is a species of marine bivalve mollusc off the coast of North America. The shell is small compared to the rest of the body, which prevents it from hiding. Females produce over 5 billion eggs in their lifetime. The oldest giant clam would have been 168 years old.

This species of sea urchin can be found in the Pacific Ocean. It lives in rocky areas and away from waves. Their bodies are covered with sharp spikes that help protect them as they crawl across the seafloor. This species ages slowly and some can live over 200 years.

Despite not being as famous as the blue whale, it has some amazing features that make it a very special species. First of all, this animal has the biggest mouth in the world; moreover, it can live over 200 years, which makes it the oldest living marine mammal. The oldest Greenland whale is 211 years old.

In general, Nishikigoi live an average of 50 years, but a specific type known as the Hanako was the oldest fish in history. He died at the age of 226 and is still a great mystery to biologists and scientists. Most people believe that the fish simply enjoyed its life, received love and care from its owners, and was given freedom to swim in the clean waters of the Japanese mountains.

This is a type of polychaete, that is, a type of marine annelid (earthworm) that is found in the Gulf of Mexico and can live up to 250 years. It can measure up to 3.05 meters and its growth is very slow. They are typically found in large aggregations with hundreds of thousands of units.

Giant tortoises are well known for their enormous longevity, but Adwaita, a tortoise of the Aldabra Giant Tortoise species, is the champion. She passed away at the age of 255 and many scientists say she was the longest living land animal to date.

Margaritifera is a long-lived freshwater oyster. It grows very slowly and lives an average of 86 to 102 years, but this number can vary greatly depending on the quality of the water. The longest-living oyster found was 280 years old.

The intimidating aspect isn’t the only threat to the Greenland shark, it’s also the oldest vertebrate on Earth. It only reaches sexual maturity at age 150 and usually lives to be 400 years old.

Arctica islandica is an edible mollusc species that lives a long time and adds a new layer to its shell each year. Its longevity is impressive, but the champion is the clam that lived for 507 years, the record among non-colonial species.

This is the largest species of sponge that grows on the coral reefs of the Caribbean. Using mathematical models, scientists found that the largest individual ever found (already dead) was estimated to be 2,300 years old.

This “immortal” jellyfish is capable of regenerating itself. Instead of dying like every other species on Earth, Turritopsis dohrnii transforms its adult cells into younger ones. But that doesn’t mean they can’t die. In reality, they are easy prey and can die from some disease.

If you could transform into one of these animals, which one would it be? What other animals do you know that are endangered? Share your knowledge in the comments.

Observation: This article was updated in August 2022 to correct source material and factual inaccuracies.