HideShark list
Slow, cold, and large is the recipe for a long life. The animals near the top of this list share deep, cold water or a low-energy lifestyle, and several were only discovered to be so old when new dating methods were applied to them.
250–500 years — the longest-lived vertebrate
A slow, deep-water Arctic shark that grows about 1 cm a year. Radiocarbon dating of the lens of the eye put one female at an estimated 272–512 years old, meaning she may have been born before 1627.
200+ years — the longest-lived mammal
An Arctic baleen whale. Stone harpoon points from the 1800s have been found lodged in living bowheads, and amino-acid dating of eye tissue supports lifespans well over two centuries.
150–190 years
Aldabra and Galápagos giant tortoises routinely pass 150. "Jonathan," a Seychelles giant tortoise living on St Helena, is thought to have hatched around 1832, making him the oldest known living land animal.
Full giant tortoise guide →150+ years
A deep-sea fish that does not begin breeding until it is 20–40 years old and can live past 150 — which is why the fisheries that targeted it collapsed so fast.
100+ years
New Zealand’s living fossil runs on a cold, slow metabolism, keeps growing until about 35, and breeds into old age — one captive male fathered young at an estimated 111.
Full tuatara guide →~70 years average, likely over 100
A blind cave salamander that barely moves, can fast for a decade, and lives far longer than its finger-sized body should allow.
Full olm guide →Around 100 years
Growth-ring counts revised the deep-sea "living fossil" from an estimated 20 years to about a century, with females maturing near 60 and pregnant for five years.
Full coelacanth guide →Estimated 80–130 years
Growth-band and radiocarbon studies suggest the largest fish in the sea also lives for well over a century, maturing only at 25–30 years old.
Full whale shark guide →80–90 years, possibly over 100
Age is read from layers in the waxy ear plug the whale lays down through life. The largest animal ever is also one of the longest-lived.
Full blue whale guide →70+ years, maturing at 20–40
Sea turtles grow slowly and breed late, and a green turtle that survives its vulnerable early years can live for the better part of a century.
Full green sea turtle guide →60–70 years — set by its teeth
An elephant goes through six sets of molars in a lifetime. When the last set wears out, in its sixties, the animal can no longer chew enough food and its life ends.
Full african elephant guide →Over 50 years
A slow-breeding seabird that does not start reproducing until about age ten. Ringed birds have been tracked at sea for more than half a century.
Full wandering albatross guide →Up to 45–50 years
This egg-laying mammal has a very low metabolic rate and body temperature and can shut its body down for weeks at a time, and it lives far longer than a mammal its size normally would.
Full echidna guide →Estimated 60–90 years
The heavy, flightless New Zealand parrot lives at an extraordinarily slow pace, breeding only in years when the rimu tree fruits — one captive male fathered chicks at an estimated age near 100.
Full kakapo guide →Excluding animals like certain jellyfish and corals that can effectively reset their age, the Greenland shark is the longest-lived vertebrate, with an estimated maximum lifespan of around 400–500 years. The bowhead whale is the longest-lived mammal at over 200.
A giant tortoise. Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise on the island of St Helena, is believed to have hatched around 1832, which would make him roughly 190 years old and the oldest known living land animal.
Cold slows metabolism, and a slow metabolism means less cellular damage from the byproducts of energy use, slower growth, and later maturity. Animals in the cold deep sea also face fewer predators and a stable environment, so evolution favours a long, slow life.