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.

In further research, scientists now want to uncover why the Greenland shark lives so much longer than other vertebrates. They hope that they can discover more about the shark's long-life genes and will also try to make the link with life expectancy in several different species. "This is the longest living vertebrate on the planet," he said. "Together with colleagues in Denmark, Greenland, USA, and China, we are currently sequencing its whole nuclear genome which will help us discover why the Greenland shark not only lives longer than other shark species but other vertebrates."