A shark can be older than a nation
Eye-lens radiocarbon dates Greenland sharks at lifespans of centuries. One large female was estimated at about 400 years, with a wide uncertainty.
Strong2 min read
The lens nucleus is metabolically inert protein, laid down in youth. Radiocarbon in it, including the bomb pulse from nuclear tests, dates the animal. Nielsen and colleagues applied this to 28 Greenland sharks. They grow about a centimetre a year. Sexual maturity may not arrive until around 150.
The central estimates land in the hundreds of years. A large female came out near 400. That is older than most standing buildings, in a fish that still looks like a fish. Cold water, slow growth, and a life that does not hurry.
Caveats
- A 400-year central estimate came with an uncertainty of more than a century. ‘Several centuries’ is the sturdy claim. The single round number is not.
- Age and date of birth are inferences from a growth model plus isotopes, not a tag placed in the 1600s.
Sources
- 1Nielsen J. et al.. Eye Lens Radiocarbon Reveals Centuries of Longevity in the Greenland Shark. Science 353, 2016.