some type of adult girl

reallifeishorror:

sartres-sister:

reallifeishorror:

The oldest living vertebrate was thought to be a bowhead whale, which had a lifespan stretching over 2 centuries.

However recently a 400 year old female Greenland shark was discovered.

According to an article by the Guardian, the Greenland shark grows less than a cm each year, and the age of this arctic apex-predator was determined by radiocarbon dating the proteins in the sharks eye lense. [X]

How did they get the eye lens? I hope not the way I think they did

Good question. Anyone? I can’t read up atm

They only tested the corneas of sharks who were already dead (collateral damage from fishing). Also, they aren’t sure if the oldest female was 400 because carbon dating is not that accurate. That’s in the middle range of possible ages, but they know she was at least older than 272, still making her the longest living vertebrate. If she was as old as 500+, which is possible but not as likely, she could be the oldest animal on record, period!

(via reallifeishorror)