{"id":834077,"date":"2026-07-29T17:08:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T17:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/834077\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T17:08:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T17:08:25","slug":"it-doesnt-reach-sexual-maturity-until-150-years-old-and-can-be-pregnant-for-a-humongous-18-years-the-10-longest-living-animals-on-the-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/834077\/","title":{"rendered":"“It doesn’t reach sexual maturity until 150 years old and can be pregnant for a humongous 18 years.” The 10 longest living animals on the planet"},"content":{"rendered":"

The longest living human in recorded history was Jeanne Calment (1875-1997), who lived to 122 years and 164 days. 122 years seems like a long, long time \u2013 but it\u2019s not that long for the animals on this list\u2026<\/p>\n

Here are the 10 longest living animals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Seychelles giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea hololissa)
\n\"SeychellesCurly_photo\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

190+ years<\/p>\n

The Seychelles giant tortoise<\/a> inhabited the Seychelles islands<\/a> until European settlers arrived, bringing non-native species with them. The tortoise population plummeted, but restoration efforts mean their numbers are growing once again.<\/p>\n

Tortoises are some of the longest-living terrestrial animals in the world, with the Seychelles giant tortoise named Jonathan taking the cake (literally \u2013 to mark his supposed 190th\u00a0birthday in 2022, local residents presented Jonathan with a cake made from his favourite foods.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

The tortoise lives on Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean and is 193 as of 2026 \u2013 making him the oldest-known living land animal. Adwaita \u2013 an Aldabra giant tortoise that died in 2006 \u2013 is believed to have lived to be 255 years, but this information hasn\u2019t been confirmed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Red sea urchin,\u00a0Strongylocentrotus franciscanus
\n\"ABrent Durand\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Approximately 200+ years<\/p>\n

The red sea urchin<\/a> is found in the Pacific Ocean, from Alaska to Baja California. It lives in shallow waters and is typically found on rocky shores.\u00a0A sea urchin\u2019s body is covered by sharp spines \u2013 and it has the ability to regenerate damaged ones.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The red sea urchin\u2019s lifespan often exceeds 30 years, but the largest reported sea urchins, with body diameters over 19cm, found in British Columbia, Canada, are\u00a0estimated<\/a>\u00a0to be around 200 years old.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The red sea urchin\u2019s longevity may be connected to its indeterminate growth<\/a> (when an organism continues to grow throughout its lifespan, rather than stopping at a certain size), life-long reproduction, and no increase in mortality rate with age.<\/p>\n

Bowhead whale,\u00a0Balaena mysticetus
\nStanislav Stelmakhovich\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Approximately 200+ years<\/p>\n

The bowhead whale<\/a> is a species<\/a> of baleen whale<\/a>, endemic to Arctic and subarctic waters. They are considered to be the longest-living mammals and can live for over 200 years. They reach sexual maturity at approximately 25 years old.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2007, a specimen caught off the Alaskan coast was discovered with the head of an explosive bomb lance, manufactured between 1879 and 1885, wedged in its body. The whale\u2019s age at the time of death was estimated between 115 and 130 years.<\/p>\n

Scientists believe that the harsh Arctic environment and effective DNA repair processes could play a part in the bowhead whales\u2019 longevity.<\/p>\n

Rougheye rockfish,\u00a0Sebastes aleutianus<\/p>\n

200+ years\u00a0<\/p>\n

The rougheye rockfish is one of the longest-living fish and can live for over 200 years<\/a>. It grows to a maximum of about 97cm (38in) in length and is typically found at depths between 150-450m (490-1,480ft) \u2013 larger fish tend to live in deeper water than smaller ones.<\/p>\n

It is thought that their longevity is linked to altered physiological processes relative to parameters like low temperature, high pressures, low light and oxygen<\/a> levels, and poor resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A 2021 study<\/a> in the journal Science found that Pacific Ocean rockfishes (genus\u00a0Sebastes) possess DNA repair pathways that may help prevent cancers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Greenland shark,\u00a0Somniosus microcephalus\u00a0
\n\"GreenlandNOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n

400-500 years<\/p>\n

Greenland sharks<\/a> are the longest-living vertebrates in the world \u2013 the oldest known individuals recorded by scientists were about 400 years old (with the possibility of approaching 500 years).\u00a0<\/p>\n

They do not age like many other animals, as their metabolism doesn\u2019t diminish as they grow older. It\u2019s unclear why this is, however.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These sharks are not only extremely long-lived; but they\u2019re also the only shark species capable of living in the Arctic all year. They\u2019re one of the slowest swimming fish relative to their large size, swimming at an average of 0.34m (1ft 1in) per second.<\/p>\n

Female Greenland sharks reach sexual maturity around 150 years of age, and their pups are born alive after a gestation period of 8 to 18 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ocean quahog clam,\u00a0Arctica islandica
\n\"BlueishJohn Piekos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

500+ years\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ocean quahog clam<\/a> is a species of clam native to the North Atlantic Ocean. This clam shows slower growth rate than other species \u2013 it takes an average of 8 years to reach maturity. It\u2019s thought that its extreme longevity stems from a low aging acceleration, further slowed in cold areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ming, also known as Hafrun, was a clam dredged off the coast of Iceland in 2006, whose age was calculated by counting annual growth lines in the shell. It was said to be 507 years old, the oldest individual animal<\/a> ever discovered whose age could be precisely determined.<\/p>\n

Black coral,\u00a0Antipatharians
\n\"blackRainervonBrandis\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

4,000 years<\/p>\n

Corals<\/a> are marine invertebrates that typically form colonies of many identical individual polyps. Each polyp builds an exoskeleton near its base. Over generations, the colony creates a coral reef that can measure up to several meters in size.<\/p>\n

Although the estimated natural lifespan of a black coral colony is 70 years, specimens over 4,000 years old were found in 2009<\/a>, at depths of nearly 300 to 3,000 m (984 to 9,840\u00a0ft).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Glass sponge, Hexactinellida
\n\"BolosomaUsed under\u00a0Creative Commons\u00a0via Wikipedia, credit: National Marine Sanctuaries\u00a0<\/p>\n

15,000 years<\/p>\n

Glass sponges<\/a> are considered the oldest animals on Earth, with some scientists estimating they can live for more than 10,000 years, possibly up to 15,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite their incredible longevity, glass sponges are not considered to be biologically immortal \u2013 they age normally, just really, really slowly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Immortal jellyfish,\u00a0Turritopsis dohrnii
\n\"immortald3_plus D.Naruse\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Potentially immortal<\/p>\n

This jellyfish<\/a> begins its life as tiny, free-swimming larvae (planulae) to then give rise to a colony of polyps attached to the sea floor. After that, jellyfish bud off these polyps and continue their life, eventually becoming sexually mature. <\/p>\n

This is where it gets interesting \u2013 if the jellyfish is exposed to threat, or is sick or old, it can revert to the polyp stage, forming a new colony. In perfect conditions, it can repeat this process indefinitely \u2013 effectively rendering it immortal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hydra, Hydridae
\n\"CHOKSAWATDIKORN\/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Potentially immortal<\/p>\n

Hydras<\/a> are part of the same group of animals as jellyfish and corals. They\u2019re little more than a flexible tube with a mouth at one end, surrounded by a crown of tentacles. They have no heart, brain, eyes or gills. They are also, technically, immortal<\/a>. Or biologically immortal, to be more specific.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hydra stem cells have a capacity for indefinite self-renewal \u2013 similar to Greek mythology, you cut off one of its heads and another one will grow in its place<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The longest living human in recorded history was Jeanne Calment (1875-1997), who lived to 122 years and 164…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":834078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,66],"class_list":["post-834077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=834077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/834078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=834077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=834077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=834077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}