Greenland shark, the longest to live 400 years – La Jornada online

Copenhagen. The Greenland shark can live 400 years, making it the longest animal known among vertebrates, says a group of international researchers from the University of Copenhagen in an article published in the journal Science.

However, researchers led by Julius Nielsen are concerned about their late sexual maturity, which fails to 150 years, which could endanger the survival of the species.

the Greenland shark or shark boreal (Somniosus microcephalus) lives in the North Atlantic and the Arctic ocean and reaches a size of more than five meters.

As it grows very slowly, around a centimeter per year according to previous estimates, researchers have known for some time that could be very long-lived.

However, the lack of calcified tissue prevented performing a conventional estimate of their age, said Nielsen and colleagues. Instead, the researchers used radiocarbon dating based on the proteins of the eye lens that has already formed in the womb.

The scientists studied 28 female sharks hunted in several expeditions measuring between 80 centimeters and five meters and calculated an average age of 272 years. longest exemplary studied was about 392 years, with a margin of error of 120 years.

According to current research, the Greenland shark is mature from four meters in length sexually, which, with the dating of the present age would be 150 years.

the species is “potentially threatened” according to the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Nielsen and his colleagues believe why it must be protected from fishing and commercial exploitation.

“it was believed that the Greenland shark was long-lived, but so is surprising,” says Jürgen Kriwet, the Institute of Paleontology at the University of Vienna, who was not involved in the study. “Now it would be interesting to investigate why” he says.

Normally longevity is related to body size. “But the Greenland shark is not the biggest nor the only one living in such cold waters,” according Kriwet. So the cause must be another.

Also the bowhead whale can reach an advanced age among vertebrates, can exceed 200 years.

Among invertebrates, age Greenland shark can overcome Iceland clam (Arctica islandica), capable of passing of 500 years, according to the authors.