Jeanne Calment is a French citizen with the longest (documented) life expectancy. The date of her birth is February 21, 1875, the date of her death is August 4, 1997, that is, the Frenchwoman lived 122 years and 164 days.
Is it possible to argue that a person - the longest living creature on the planet? No, there are enough animals in the world that have lived much longer than Jeanne Kalman. Here are the top 5 Earth centenarians, Time magazine's version.
5. Jellyfish of the genus Turritopsis
This type of jellyfish goes by itself in the ranking of centenarians. Its representatives can move from a state of maturity to a state of infantilism, in other words, return youth. These jellyfish have a regular life cycle, but after maturation and mating, they return to their original polyp state. This process is called "transdifferentiation" and is associated with the "readjustment" of defective cells into new cells. Maybe these jellyfish are the key to the elixir of youth.
4. Elephants and parrots
On average, large parrots live for 50-70 years, and cockatoos are considered centenarians among parrots. Since 1925, the San Diego Zoo has kept a cockatoo, which arrived there as an adult bird, and he lived until December 30, 1990. And some of the New Zealand owl parrots survived to 90 years of age.
Elephants do not lag behind parrots, they live up to 70 years.
3. Red sea urchins and giant turtles
Strongylocentrotus franciscanus, aka the red sea urchin (although its color ranges from pink or orange to almost black) from the echinoderm class lives in the Pacific Ocean.
The spherical body of the sea urchin is entirely covered with sharp thorns, which can grow up to 8 cm. These thorns grow on a hard shell that protects the hedgehog. According to research work by Thomas Ebert of the Oregon State University Department of Zoology, the oldest red sea urchins are about 200 years old.
Advaita, a 250-kilogram giant tortoise that lived in the city zoo of Kolkata (India), was the longest-lived turtle in the world. The age of the animal, according to various estimates, ranged from 150 to 250 years.
2. Bowhead whales
The bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) is a stocky, dark colored whale without a dorsal fin. In length, it can grow up to 20 meters, and loves to eat, "feeding" up to 100 tons and is second only to the blue whale in weight.
It lives exclusively in fertile arctic and subarctic waters, which makes it different from other whales that migrate to feed or reproduce.
Bowhead whales live up to 200 years, and genes have been found in their genomes that repair damaged sections of DNA.
1. Bivalve molluscs Arctica islandica
One of the species of edible molluscs, it lives in two oceans - the Arctic and the Atlantic. It is also known by several different common names, including Icelandic cyprin and black clam. These ocean dwellers live exceptionally long lives. One of the two found samples (he was named Min) lived for 507 years, the other - from 405 to 410 years. To determine the age of the clam, the researchers drilled through the shell and counted the number of layers.
Madame Kalman was born in February 1875 and died in August 1997, having lived, thus, 122 years and 164 days.
By the way, an interesting story: in 1965, when Jeanne Louise Kalman was 90 years old, she signed a deal to sell an apartment to a 47-year-old lawyer. According to the agreement, Kalman was to receive a certain amount annually until her death. It took 10 years to pay the full cost of the apartment. Unfortunately for the lawyer, the woman lived three times as long. He himself died in 1995, and his widow paid Kalman the debt for almost two more years.
10 animals that live longer than humans
Many are sure that parrots are long-lived. However, they live on average 15-30 years, and only large breed sometimes live up to 50-60 years and even up to 70 years.
It is very problematic to live in the wild for a long time due to diseases and natural enemies. But there are animals whose age exceeds not only parrot age, but even Mrs. Kalman's record.
Arctica islandica- a species of marine bivalve molluscs living in the waters of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. In October 2007, researchers at Bangor University in Wales determined the age of the clam caught off the Icelandic coast was from 405 to 410 years. This age makes the mollusk the longest living animal with a confirmed maximum age.
Bowhead whale is a marine mammal, a mustachioed whale that lives in the polar regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Life expectancy is about 40 years. However, some individuals can survive up to 211 years old, which is a record among vertebrates.
Turtle Advaita("The only" in Sanskrit) - an animal recognized as one of the oldest in the world. At the time of death on the night of March 22-23, 2006, the turtle had, according to various estimates, from 150 to 250 years. Advaita was a giant tortoise and was very popular with tourists. Advaita was the favorite of Lord Clive of the East India Trading Company, who died in 1774, the hero of the Seven Years' War and conqueror of India.
Koi carps(more precisely, brocade carp) - decorative domesticated subspecies of carp that have passed six selection selections, after which a certain category is assigned to it. Currently, there are many varieties of koi in Japan, but only fourteen color forms and patterns are considered to be the standard. A koi fish named Hanako died in 1977 at the age of 226 years old.
Guidak- a species of marine bivalve molluscs. These large (up to 1.5 kg in weight) organisms have very long intergrown siphons (up to 1 m in length) and a relatively small (up to 20 cm) fragile shell. It is considered the largest burrowing mollusk. The name "geoduck" ("gweduck") is borrowed from the Indians and means "digging deep". It lives off the northwest coast of the USA and Canada. This mollusk is famous as one of the longest-living animals: the average life span of guidaks is 146 years, and the age of the oldest specimen found was 168 years old.
Sturgeon- a genus of freshwater, semi-anadromous and anadromous fish. Body length up to 6 m (Atlantic and white sturgeon), weight up to 816 kg (white sturgeon). The documented age of the oldest sturgeon is 125 years old.
Atlantic Bighead(and also, Atlantic slughead or Icelandic berix) is a large deep-sea saltwater fish. Lives in cold water at depths of up to 1800 meters in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is known for its high life expectancy. Maximum age fixed up to 149 years old.
European pearl mussel- a species of bivalve molluscs. Inhabits clean fresh streams and rivers in many countries of the Northern Hemisphere. They served as an object of fishing for the extraction of mother-of-pearl and river pearls. Recently, the Russian researcher V.V. Zyuganov found that freshwater pearl mussel has the longest life among freshwater invertebrates - the maximum life span 210-250 years old.
Red sea urchin is a species of sea urchin that lives in the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to California in rocky shallow waters. Called red, although the color ranges from pink to almost black. Life expectancy often exceeds 30 years, scientists have found several red sea urchins age over 200 years.
Lamellibrachia luymesi- a type of tubular worms living in deep (up to 800 m) cold waters near sources of oil and methane. The largest number of these three-meter worms live in the Gulf of Mexico. The age of most individuals has been established to be more than 170 years old, but there are specimens over 250 years old.
Information source Wikipedia
From the moment an animal is conceived, its body grows and matures until it reaches its maximum "lifespan". Fortunately for some organisms, their lifespan is much longer than that of other creatures.
The average age of people is about 70 years, but this is not the limit, because it is known for certain that there are animals that have lived on Earth much longer than we do. Usually, animals have a better chance of a long life in captivity, where they do not have to worry about predators or hunger and natural disasters. Although there are such creatures that survive well in the wild.
So who lives longer than the rest? Ahead is a list of 25 of the most outstanding long-lived animals.
25. Tuatara Lizard
Tuatara or tuatara (synonym) live only in New Zealand, and they grow very slowly. Most of these reptiles live up to a respectable age of 60 years, although there are cases when such lizards lived as much as 200 years!
24. Domestic cat
Photo: Guiness Book of World Records
A domestic Siamese cat named Scooter was awarded the title of the oldest cat in the world by the Guinness Book of Records Commission. The pet deserved such an honor for the fact that he lived for 31 years. By the way, one of his older relatives lived for 26 years.
23. Dog
Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com
The oldest dog in the world was called Bluey. This dog was an Australian Shepherd, and he died at the venerable age of 29. Recall that most dogs usually live from 8 to 15 years.
22. Man
Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com
People are also part of the animal kingdom, so now you will meet a very old lady.
The oldest man in the world this year celebrated his 117th birth, and it was, of course, the charming Emma Morano. The woman lived in Italy, and she was most likely the last living person who was born in the 19th century. The long-liver left us quite recently - on April 15, 2017.
21. Horse
Photo: Twitter
Essex, a 51-year-old stallion named Shayne, may be the oldest in the world. The animal is said to have inherited its longevity from the previous holder of this record. Despite arthritis, Shane still feels great and is not in a hurry to the next world.
20. Lobster
Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com
Lobster Larry was captured in 2016 and immediately sent to the Maine Aquarium for further research. Judging by the large size of the crayfish, this marine life may be the oldest lobster caught in the last 110 years. So far, scientists plan to either watch him again, or release him, but Larry certainly does not threaten to become someone's dinner. Such an ancient lobster deserves a natural death.
19. Bowhead whale
Photo: Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
In the Alaska region, sailors caught a bowhead whale, in whose neck something very interesting was found. A piece of a harpoon, extracted from the carcass of a sea giant, was there clearly more than 100 years ago. The fragment of the weapon dates back to around the 1880s, which means that this one has been around since the American Civil War and survived the Victorian era. The animal is probably about 130 years old, and some experts even believe that bowhead whales can live up to 200 years.
18. Tiger
Photo: Pixabay.com
The oldest tiger in the world was named Flavio. He was a circus beast, and then, in old age, he went to the Florida Zoo, where he died at the age of 25.
17. Koi fish
Photo: Pixabay.com
A Koi fish named Hanako lived in Japan. She was recognized as the oldest representative of her species, having lived to the incredible age of 226 years! Usually Koi fish live for about 50 years. No one can understand how exactly Hanako managed to reach such a venerable age.
16. Greenland Arctic Shark
Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com
Greenland polar sharks live quite a long time, and in theory they could be the longest-living vertebrates in the world. For example, once fishermen caught a shark that was at least 400 years old! However, the current age estimation method is still not entirely accurate, and therefore some experts believe that the captured marine predator may be a much older creature.
15. Goldfish
Photo: Twitter
The oldest goldfish in the world was 43 years old, and this was even confirmed by a commission from the Guinness Book of Records.
14. Elephant
Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com
The oldest elephant ever to live in captivity lived to the venerable age of 86. The animal spent its last years in the capital zoo of Taiwan, but once upon a time it helped Japanese soldiers transport supplies through the jungle of Myanmar (Myanmar), and in 1943 the giant was even captured by the Chinese. Did you know that the average lifespan of Asian elephants is 60 years?
13. Leo
Photo: Daughter # 3
A lion named Arjun was born in captivity, and now the 26-year-old animal is considered the oldest of its kind. Most lions live to be 18-20 years old in captivity and 12-16 years old in the wild.
12. Giant (gigantic, Seychelles) turtle
Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com
Meet Jonathan, and it was he who received the title of the oldest giant tortoise in the world. The male is already 182 years old, and now he lives in the Seychelles. Jonathan is a rare old man, but some experts believe giant turtles can live up to 250 years.
11. Bear
Photo: Marshmallow
The oldest wild bear lived in the area of the American city of Grand Rapids, Minnesota (Grand Rapids, Minnesota), and this animal died at the age of 39 years. Employees of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources long ago hung a collar with a beacon on this outstanding female to track her movements. The she-bear, listed as Bear number 56, died of natural causes.
10. Orangutan
Photo: Julielangford
Puan is the oldest female orangutan known to science, and she is now 60 years old. The monkey lives in the Australian zoo Perth (Perth Zoo).
9. American alligator
Photo: Postdlf / wikipedia
Mooja is the oldest captive alligator. He even survived the bombing of Belgrade during World War II. Its exact age is unknown, but zoologists believe that this crocodile is almost 90 years old.
8. Common flamingo
Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com
The world's oldest flamingo died at the age of 83, and this bird lived in the Adelaide Zoo (Adelaide, Australian city).
7. Clam Min
Photo: Alan D Wanamaker Jr1, Jan Heinemeier James D Scourse Christopher A Richardson1 Paul G Butler Jón Eiríksson Karen Luise Knudsen
The Ming clam was born in 1499 ... It was discovered and studied by researchers at Bangor University (UK). Radiocarbon analysis showed that the incredible find was as much as 507 years old!
6. Black rhino
Photo: Charlesjsharp
The oldest black rhinoceros in the world lived at the San Francisco Zoo. The female's name was Elly, and she lived a long life, passing away at the age of 46.
5. Bat
Photo: Anton 17
The longest-running bat lived in Siberia, and it died at the age of 41. The nocturnal animal lived 9.8 times longer than other members of this species usually live.
4. Killer whale
Photo: Minette Layne / Seattle, Washington, USA
This killer whale was named Jay-Tu (J2) or Granny (Granny, grandmother), and became the oldest member of its species, having lived to 100 years old. Many female killer whales usually do not survive childbirth, but this is clearly not about Jay-Tu. By studying Granny, scientists have learned a lot. For example, for almost the first time they were able to observe how adult and elderly whales take care of young animals.
3. Medusa
Photo: Pixabay.com
Imagine being able to grow old the other way around (or get younger). It is this superpower that jellyfish of the species Turritopsis dohrnii ("immortal jellyfish" from Latin) possess. They usually reproduce with the help of sperm and eggs, but during unfavorable conditions they can "roll back" the age of their cells (invert the life cycle) to a younger state (before the polyp stage) and begin asexual reproduction, producing their own carbon copies. In theory, such jellyfish can live for hundreds of thousands of years ...
The jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula is considered the only immortal creature on Earth; it lives in tropical waters. As scientists have proved, such jellyfish do not die of old age, living up to a certain age, they begin to "get younger" - they return to their original stage. And from the stage of a young individual, she again begins to develop. Thus, a creature can live an infinite number of cycles. Such jellyfish die, most often, due to predators or diseases.
The Antarctic sponge holds the record for the longevity of its kind. The creature lives in arctic cold waters. Every year the sponge grows by 0.2 mm, while it lives at a depth of about 200 m, where sunlight practically does not penetrate. By reducing the metabolic process, the Antarctic sponge can live from 5 to 15 thousand years.
The place of the longest-living animal is occupied by the mollusk Arctica islandica, an inhabitant of the waters of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. The maximum age of the mollusk found by scientists exceeded 500 years. The age of the creature was determined by the method of sclerochronology - by the rings on the inner side of the shell. The oldest clam found was named Ming, after the dynasty of Chinese emperors for whom he was a contemporary.
The life span of this mammal is from 40 to 210 years. Among vertebrates, this lifespan is a record. Earlier, the Eskimos hunted bowhead whales off the coast of Alaska, so the animals moved to Greenland. The color of the whales is black, sometimes with a white throat. The length of an adult is about 21 m, and the weight is 150 tons, which is a lot. Larger than the bowhead whale is only the Blue Whale, whose length can reach 33 meters.
The tuatara lives on the small islands of New Zealand. This small animal leads only a nocturnal lifestyle. The lizard lives somewhere around 100-200 years, reaching a length of 76 cm. The animal also represents beak-headed, while it is the only living representative of this order today. Outwardly, the reptile resembles a large iguana. The lizard is distinguished by the presence of a "third eye" on the crown of the head, although in an adult it is overgrown with scales.
Elephant turtles - the largest land turtles, are inhabitants of the islands of the Galapagos archipelago. Seafarers caught and consumed the meat of these animals, in this regard, now this species has practically disappeared in nature. In the wild, turtles live for about 100 years, the captured animals lived in captivity for up to 170 years. The weight of animals can exceed 200 kg. The neck of such a turtle is long, and the head is relatively small.
The polar shark, belonging to the somnios family, is an inhabitant of the waters of the North Atlantic. The peculiarity of the Greenland shark is its habitat, this predator can live in water with a temperature of 7 to -2 degrees. This is very strange since most sharks are thermophilic. The animal lives 100-200 years, which is the greatest indicator for sharks. This creature is not picky about food, it eats any living creatures.
The oldest found mollusk of this species was 160 years old, while the average life span of this creature is 140 years. This exquisite delicacy lives in the USA and Canada. Such a long lifespan of this creature, similar to a trunk, is due to the absence of enemies in the animal kingdom and not very intensive metabolism.
Koi carps are small ornamental domesticated fish. The oldest fish of the koi carp species died at the age of 226 years, on average, these fish live 70-100 years. The homeland of this subspecies of common carp is China, but this fish gained more popularity in Japan, where they are intensively grown. At first, koi carps were eaten, later they began to be kept at home as ornamental fish.
Closing the list of the longest-living animals is the Asian elephant. These elephants live in Pakistan, India, Laos, Nepal and Thailand. This mammal is the second largest among elephants. The animal grows up to 3.5 m and reaches a weight of 5 tons. In adults, there are no enemies in nature, except for people who have long used Indian elephants as a labor force. In the wild, elephants live for 60-70 years, domesticated animals in a comfortable environment live up to 80 years.
Longest-lived animals Videos
This woman is the oldest inhabitant of our planet: Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment was born on 02.21.1875 and died on 08.04.1997, having lived 122 years 164 days. During her life, two World Wars have passed, the first man flew into space, the Internet was invented, but for some representatives of the fauna, this age is only half, or even a third of life. Would you like to know for which particular long-lived animals?
1,122 years old - bowhead whale 
The length of the bowhead whale can reach 20 meters, and the weight, second only to the weight of the blue whale, varies between 75-100 tons. The mammal's habitat is exclusively arctic and sub-arctic waters, unlike other whale species that migrate elsewhere. Unfortunately, this species of whale is classified as "endangered".
2.15 years old - sturgeon 
Sturgeon (family Acipenseridae) are one of the oldest families of bony fish. Habitat - subtropical, temperate and subarctic zones: off the coast of North America and Eurasia, in lakes and rivers. Usually, the sturgeon grows in length up to 2-3 meters, occasionally up to 5.5 meters. In April of this year, staff of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources captured a 125-year-old individual weighing 108 kg and 2.2 meters in length, on which they attached a tag, and then released. (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources)
3.149 years old - Atlantic Bighead 
Atlantic bigheads live at depths of 180-1800 meters in the waters of the eastern Atlantic and Pacific oceans, in the western Pacific, as well as off the coast of Chile. The bright red color of the fish after death is replaced by a yellowish or orange tint. The oldest representative of this species lived to be 149 years old.
4.168 years - Guidak 
Guidak is a very large edible mollusk belonging to the Hiatellidae family. Habitat - the west coast of North America (mainly Washington and British Columbia). Not particularly popular until the 1970s, shellfish have recently been in demand in Asian markets, which has caused their value to skyrocket. The oldest guidak was 168 years old. (Seattle PI)
5.170 years - Lamellibrachia luymesi 
The habitat of this species of tubular worms belonging to the family Siboglinidae is in the deep waters of the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico (500-800 m). A worm that grows rather slowly can reach a length of 3 meters. (Charles Fisher)
6.200 Years - Red Sea Urchin 
Despite the fact that this type of hedgehog is called "red", their color ranges from orange and pink to almost black. Inhabits shallow waters (maximum 90 m) off rocky shores in the Pacific Ocean (from Alaska to Baja California). Sharp needles, up to 8 cm long, completely cover the round body of the hedgehog. (Kirt L. Onthank)
7.210-250 years - European pearl oyster 
Belongs to a rare species of freshwater pearl mussel (family Margaritiferidae), producing excellent quality pearls, which are obtained by humans. Recently, the Russian scientist Valery Zyuganov made a discovery: this species of mollusks has no signs of aging, and their maximum life span reaches 210-250 years. (Joel Berglund)
8.226 years old - koi Hanako carp 
The koi carp is a beautiful domesticated carp that is bred to be kept in garden ponds for decorative purposes. Koi carp varieties vary in size, pattern, and color of the scales. The most common colors are black, white, yellow, cream, blue and yellow. Age is determined in the same way as for trees: by the number of rings located on the scales of most fish. Thanks to this method, the age of the oldest koi carp, Hanako, who died at the age of 226, was determined. (Stan Shebs)
9.256 years old - giant tortoise 
One of the oldest animals on the planet is a 250-kilogram male giant turtle named Advaita (translated from Sanskrit "one and only"), who lived in the Calcutta Zoo (India). As evidenced by historical data, Advaita was the pet of Robert Clive, a British general from the East India Company, having lived on the territory of his mansion for several years. Approximately 130 years ago, Advaita was transferred to the Calcutta Zoo and died in 2006.
10.507 years old - bivalve mollusk of the species Arctica islandica 
This bivalve mollusk, belonging to the Arcticidae family, lives in the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 7-400 meters. Collect shellfish for food. Two individuals of bivalve molluscs survived to 375 and 507 years. (Manfred Heyde)
