A selection of animals that boast impressive longevity (15 photos)

Since ancient times, man has dreamed of extending his life and even discovering a secret. immortality, but nature cannot be deceived. Scientific and technological progress is developing at a tremendous speed, so maybe someday we Let's create the Philosopher's Stone. Perhaps this secret is kept by animals from this list. They boast impressive longevity, and some even immortality.

Macaw parrot and alligator, 60 years old - 10th place







10th place is shared by macaws and alligators. Such different animals, but live approximately the same long life - 60 years.

African elephant, 70 years old - 9th place





Elephants are amazing animals. Not only are they different good memory, are divided into left-handers and right-handers and are very caring parents for their children. They are also long-lived.

Bowhead whale and tuatara lizard, 150 years old - 8th place






The bowhead whale is the absolute record holder among long-lived mammals.

And the tuatara lizard is a direct descendant of ancient reptiles, characterized by a very small size of 80 centimeters.

Turtles, 180 years old - 7th place



We've all heard stories about long-lived turtles. Huge elephant or Galapagos tortoises differ in life expectancy and giant turtles. Some individuals are able to live for more than 200 years, but on average, the lifespan of some species of turtles is about 180 years.

Tardigrade and koi, 200 years old - 6th place





The tardigrade is a tiny arthropod about 1 millimeters and able to survive even in the most incredible conditions. Scientists exposed a tardigrade to a gigantic dose of radiation irradiated with ultraviolet light, poisoned with hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide, tried to burn and freeze - but she survived. Not only is the tardigrade It is practically indestructible, so it also lives for about 200 years.

And very beautiful koi carps therefore began to be considered symbols wisdom that live 200 years. This fish will survive several generations. their owners.

Greenland polar shark and tubeworms, 300 years old - 5th place





The honorable fifth place was taken by the Greenland shark and tubular worms. Scientists Still Can't Understand Why This Huge Shark Lives so long. But there is an assumption that the whole reason lies in slow metabolism due to low water temperature.

And the secret to the longevity of invertebrate tubeworms is simple: they completely uninteresting to predators and therefore no one bothers them to live their long (and possibly happy) lives.

Oceanic venus, 400-500 years old - 4th place



These oceanic mollusks live in the northern part of the Atlantic ocean. One such record holder mollusk found off the coast Iceland in 2006 was 507 years old.

Corals Leiopathes, 4000 years old - 3rd place



In third place are deep-sea corals of the Leiopathes species. The record holder is not only among corals, but among living creatures in general.

Six-beam sponge, 11,000 years old - 2nd place



This creature, similar to a glass figure, differs not only interesting appearance, but also a frightening life expectancy. Scientists found out that one such six-rayed sponge belonging to species Monorhaphis chuni, was about 11,000 years old.

Immortal jellyfish and hydra, immortality - 1st place






The peculiarity of the immortal jellyfish is simple - it is immortal. If purposely not interrupt her life, she will forever plow the waters of Japan and Mediterranean Sea. And the whole secret is in its ability to self-heal.

Another creature possesses this ability - the hydra. This the invertebrate is also immortal due to self-regeneration. If you scroll hydra through a meat grinder, it will reunite together and will continue to live absolutely no problem.