Scientists: Bowhead sharks live 400 years or longer

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Ученые: Гренландские полярные акулы живут 400 лет и дольшеThe Greenland shark is the champion among vertebrates.

A team of biologists from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Oxford found the shark-the champion among long-livers of the ocean depths.

In the course of studying bowhead sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) researchers have stumbled upon a specimen, which has more than 390 years.

Scientists determined the age of this fish species radiocarbon Dating of the eye, which definitely shows the result. On average, polar sharks live for about 270 years. Scientists said that this is one of the most long-lived on Earth longer they live only some shellfish and corals.

Somniosus microcephalus live a little North of their relatives, they are the most sluggish among other sharks, their speed does not exceed three kilometers per hour. Due to low water temperature and poor metabolism sharks grow very slowly, and age – the reproductive age comes to them only 156 years, and the year they grow only a few inches.

The other important factor affecting the lifespan of the Greenland shark is that they are apex predators, this means that they cannot be eaten by the enemy, so no other predators can regulate their numbers.

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