Danish scientists: Sharks can live 500 years – Sight

Greenland Shark can live up to 500 years, the period of sexual maturity in females occurs after 150 years, to the conclusion drawn by researchers at Copenhagen University.

habitat Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus ) is the North Atlantic and the cold surface waters of the Arctic, said the publication New Scientist.

«We certainly expect that the shark will be old, but we did not expect that they will be the longest-lived vertebrates»

This type of fish that lived during his Enlightenment is still floating in the oceans. Until now it was known that Greenland shark lives of at least year 272, being the long-lived in the vertebrate world. It broke, so the previous record of longevity 211-year-old bowhead whale.

However Greenland shark, probably can live 500 years.

«We certainly expect that the shark will be old, but we did not expect that they will be the longest-lived vertebrates”, – said Julius Nielsen from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Living deep in the North Atlantic and the cold surface waters of the Arctic, Greenland sharks have a stable environment and grow only a few centimeters per year. Despite slower growth, these predators reach over 5 meters in length, and often occupy the top of the food chain.

Nielsen and his colleagues attempted to clarify the life of Greenland sharks. To do this, it uses a portion of the spine sharks inhabiting the waters of Greenland in the North Atlantic. To determine the age of sharks, scientists used radiocarbon analysis. The samples were eye lens Greenland sharks caught in the region previously.

Radiocarbon analysis was aimed at identifying the body sharks radioactive particles that remain after the test of the atomic bomb – in the mid-1950s and early 1960s.

These particles have entered the food chain in the world and present in the form of a radioactive form of carbon in organisms that survived the testing period of the atomic bomb. Since the lens of the eye tissue of Greenland sharks do not change over the life of the animal’s life, it retains historic radiation.

After catching sharks length of 2.2 meters, which showed radiation levels, indicating that the shark was born in 1960, the researchers built a growth curve for determining the age of the other individuals, depending on the length of the body.

According to the team of scientists estimates, one five-meter animal had age for at least 272 years, but it is possible that his age exceeding 500 years (392 years, plus or minus 120 years). Another animal had the age of at least 260 years and could be over 400 years old.

The female shark, probably not reach the age of reproduction, as long as they do not survive for about 150 years.

According to the authors, this indicator can contribute to longevity, including low water temperature, which inhabit the Arctic sharks. These conditions make it possible to slow down their growth and biochemical processes of the body.