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Animal lists · 10 entries

The Longest-Living Animals on Earth

The longest-lived animal with a verified age is the ocean quahog clam at 507 years, followed by the Greenland shark at an estimated 272–392 years; the immortal jellyfish can theoretically avoid death by ageing entirely by reverting to an earlier life stage, though it is still routinely eaten.

Updated 25 July 2026

Animal lifespan records are harder to establish than they look. A tree can be counted in rings and a clam in shell layers, but most animals leave no such record, and a great many quoted maximum ages are extrapolations from growth rates rather than observations of an individual.

This list distinguishes between the two. Where an age was directly verified — by shell layers, by radiocarbon dating of eye lens proteins, or by an individual being tracked for its whole life — it is marked as verified. Where it is a modelled estimate, that is stated. The gap between the two categories is frequently very large.

How this list was compiled

Ages are given as verified where an individual was directly aged, and as estimated where the figure comes from growth modelling or extrapolation. Colonial organisms such as coral are excluded, because the colony and the individual polyp are different things and conflating them makes the list meaningless. Species whose "immortality" is a description of their cell biology rather than their observed lifespan are noted as such.

The Longest-Living Animals on Earth

  1. Ocean quahog clam

    507 years (verified)

    An individual nicknamed Ming, aged by counting annual shell growth layers. The oldest individual animal ever verified.

  2. Greenland shark

    272–392 years (estimated)

    Aged by radiocarbon dating of eye lens proteins. The range is wide because the method is indirect. Females may not reach sexual maturity until around 150.

  3. Bowhead whale

    ~200 years (estimated)

    Suggested by stone harpoon points found embedded in living animals and by aspartic acid racemisation in eye lenses.

  4. Rougheye rockfish

    ~205 years (estimated)

    Aged by otolith growth rings. Among the longest-lived fish, and heavily exposed to fishing pressure because of it.

  5. Galápagos tortoise

    150–175 years

    Harriet, held in Australia, was around 175 at death in 2006. Well documented compared with most entries here.

  6. Tuatara

    100+ years

    Henry at Southland Museum fathered offspring at an estimated 111. Credible estimates run considerably higher.

  7. Koi

    Up to ~200 years (disputed)

    The famous koi Hanako was claimed at 226 based on scale rings. The method and the claim are both contested.

  8. Immortal jellyfish

    No known ageing limit

    Turritopsis dohrnii can revert from adult medusa back to polyp, escaping death by ageing. It is still eaten by predators and killed by disease.

  9. Giant tube worm

    ~250 years (estimated)

    Deep-sea hydrothermal vent species, aged by growth-rate modelling rather than direct observation.

  10. Red sea urchin

    ~200 years (estimated)

    Shows almost no measurable decline with age — a genuine case of negligible senescence.

Key facts

  • The oldest individual animal ever verified is an ocean quahog clam aged 507 years by counting annual shell growth layers.
  • The Greenland shark is estimated at 272 to 392 years from radiocarbon dating of eye lens proteins; females may not breed until around 150.
  • Many quoted maximum ages are modelled from growth rates rather than observed, and the gap between verified and estimated figures is often large.
  • The immortal jellyfish can revert from adult to juvenile form indefinitely, escaping death by ageing — but it is still eaten and still dies.
  • Several long-lived species show negligible senescence: they do not measurably deteriorate with age, which is why maximum lifespan is hard to establish.
  • Extreme longevity is a conservation liability. A fish that takes 150 years to breed cannot recover from fishing pressure on any human timescale.

The Longest-Living Animals on Earth: frequently asked questions

What is the longest-living animal?
The ocean quahog clam holds the verified record at 507 years, established by counting annual growth layers in the shell of an individual nicknamed Ming. Longer lifespans are estimated for other species, but none has been directly verified.
How old do Greenland sharks live to be?
Between roughly 272 and 392 years, based on radiocarbon dating of proteins in the eye lens. The range is wide because the method is indirect. Females are thought not to reach sexual maturity until around 150 years old.
Is the immortal jellyfish really immortal?
Only in the sense that it can avoid death by ageing. Turritopsis dohrnii can revert from its adult medusa form back to a juvenile polyp and start again, apparently indefinitely. It is still eaten by predators and killed by disease, so individuals do die.
What is the longest-living land animal?
Giant tortoises. Galápagos and Aldabra tortoises routinely exceed 100 years, with Harriet reaching around 175 and Jonathan, an Aldabra tortoise on Saint Helena, believed to have hatched around 1832.
Why is it hard to tell how long animals live?
Because most leave no record of their age. Clams and fish can be aged by counting growth layers, and some species by chemical changes in tissue, but for most animals a maximum lifespan is extrapolated from growth rates rather than observed in an individual.
Does living a long time make a species more vulnerable?
Yes, considerably. Long-lived animals typically breed late and produce few young, so a population cannot replace losses quickly. A Greenland shark that does not breed until 150 has no capacity to recover from fishing pressure within a human lifetime.

Sources

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