Scientists Discover 512-Year-Old Shark, Which Would Be The Oldest Living Vertebrate On The Planet (Pics & Video)

A couple of months ago, a group of scientists discovered an ancient shark in the North Atlantic ocean. While they knew that this shark had definitely reached senior age, they didn’t realize until recently that the animal is estimated to be a whopping 512 years old. At 512 years, that would make this ancient shark the oldest living vertebrate in the world. Watch video at the end of this article.

Nielsen has been doing research on Greenland sharks for almost his entire academic career. The animals are known to eat rotting polar bear carcasses, of which the scientist shared a picture earlier. He also says that the species very frequently have to deal with pesky parasites that latch to their eyes, which is why the eyes usually don't look that healthy. Because these sharks tend to live hundreds of years, they usually don't stick around in the same spot forever. Sharks from all over the world were studied, but genetic results of practically all of them were similar, suggesting they all originated from one place and then migrated. The reproduction of Greenland sharks is still somewhat of a mystery, although the scientists do know that the cold water of the Arctic is a preferred place for them stay.