# The longest-living animals

The longest-lived animals on the planet, from sponges thousands of years old to giant tortoises, according to Wikipedia's list of longest-living organisms. Many ages are estimates.

- 3 votes · 22 items
- Nov 19, 2019 · Federico G.
- https://even.best/en/l/626/the-longest-living-animals

## Top 20

1. **Immortal jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Biologically immortal: it can revert to the polyp stage and start its life cycle again.
2. **Freshwater pearl mussel** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Can live 210 to 250 years.
3. **Bowhead whale** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — At least 211 years: the longest-lived mammal.
4. **Glass sponges** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Specimens from the East China Sea and Southern Ocean estimated at over 10,000 years: probably the longest-lived animal on Earth.
5. **Black coral (Leiopathes)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Colonies around 4,265 years old, among the oldest living things on the planet.
6. **Giant barrel sponge** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — In the Caribbean, the largest specimens are over 2,300 years old.
7. **Ocean quahog (Arctica islandica)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The specimen nicknamed Ming lived 507 years.
8. **Greenland shark** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — A 2016 study put one specimen at 272 to 512 years old: the longest-lived vertebrate.
9. **Aldabra giant tortoise** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Adwaita, who died at Kolkata zoo in 2006, was estimated to be about 255.
10. **Rougheye rockfish** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Can reach 205 years.
11. **Red sea urchin** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Specimens over 200 years old have been found.
12. **Seychelles giant tortoise** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Jonathan, on the island of Saint Helena, hatched around 1832, is the oldest known living land animal.
13. **Radiated tortoise** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Tu'i Malila, hatched in 1777, died in 1966 aged 188.
14. **Geoduck** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — A giant Pacific clam that can live over 160 years.
15. **Orange roughy** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Up to 149 years.
16. **American lobster** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — George, caught in 2009, was estimated at about 140 years old.
17. **Lake sturgeon** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — In 2012 one about 125 years old was caught in Wisconsin.
18. **Human** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment lived 122 years and 164 days: the documented record.
19. **Sulphur-crested cockatoo** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Cocky Bennett, in Australia, lived to 120: the oldest known bird.
20. **Tuatara** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — New Zealand's reptile lives well over 100 years; Henry first bred at 111.
21. **Asian elephant** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Dakshayani, in India, died in 2019 aged 88 or 89.
22. **Koi carp** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Some koi live more than 50 years; the most famous, Hanako, would have exceeded 200 according to the scale rings.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.