The Greenland shark is one of the world\u2019s largest sharks, but it grows slowly, at only a few centimetres over several years, hinting at a long lifespan.<\/p>\n
But until 2016 biologists could only guess at the life expectancy of these little-understood creatures.<\/p>\n
In 2016 marine biologists from the University of Copenhagen <\/a>used radiocarbon dating on the sharks\u2019 eye lenses to gather information, which helped them to estimate the life expectancy of the sharks.<\/p>\n The technique of carbon-14 dating has previously been used to discover the age of whales, but had never before been used to estimate the age of fish.<\/p>\n Findings from the data revealed that the shark\u2019s life expectancy is at least 272 years, making it the oldest living of all vertebrate animals known to science.<\/p>\n The research team looked at the eye lenses of 28 female Greenland sharks, which ranged from 81 to 502cm in length.<\/p>\n The data revealed that the sharks reach sexual maturity at around 150-years-old, with the largest animal estimated to be around 400-years-old.<\/p>\n The results of the research have been published in American scientific journal, Science.<\/p>\n The paper\u2019s lead author, Julius Nielsen, explains why the eye was crucial in determining the age of the sharks: \u201cAs with other vertebrates, the lenses consist of a unique type of metabolically inactive tissue. Because the centre of the lens does not change from the time of a shark\u2019s birth, it allows the tissue\u2019s chemical composition to reveal a shark\u2019s age.<\/p>\n \u201cGreenland sharks are among the largest carnivorous sharks on the planet, and their role as an apex predator <\/a>in the Arctic ecosystem is totally overlooked,.”<\/p>\n \u201cBy the thousands, they accidentally end up as by-catch across the North Atlantic and I hope that our studies can help to bring a greater focus on the Greenland shark in the future.”<\/p>\n