Cheating death

摘要

Of all the limitations on Earth there is one that no life can escape: death. But some living things manage to outsmart their fate for longer than others. For reasons that aren't well understood, animals rarely make it to their 100th birthday. But, as ever, there are exceptions. The oldest living animal yet discovered is a marine clam of the species Arctica islandica caught off the coast of Iceland. According to some estimates, this individual, which has been named Ming, is around 400 years old. But as-yet-unpublished research led by Paul Butler, an animal growth specialist at Bangor University, UK, suggests it may be older still.