Thanks to research and results, scientists have discovered that these animals, He discovered that he lived an average of 400 years.. In fact, they have become known as the “world’s longest-lived vertebrates.”

Bride, details of these creatures let’s see.

Greenland sharks are enormous animals that can grow up to 5 meters in length.

It is possible to see them swimming slowly in the deep, cold waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. Scientists thought Greenland sharks lived long because of this slow pace and growth rate. But until their latest investigation It was difficult to determine an age for them.

Experts say that for some fish ear bones called otoliths He preferred to investigate. When these bones were cut, they revealed a pattern of concentric rings that could be counted as if you were counting the rings on a tree. This pattern would also help them determine the age of living things.

It also grows in layers in the spine of some species, such as the great white shark. calcified tissues There is. These tissues were also used to determine the age of animals.

But Greenland sharks had very, very soft tissues and structures.

In other words, they did not have hard body structures where layers of growth accumulated. For this reason it was thought that their ages could never be determined. Happy experts He found a way to do this.

The eye lens of the Greenland shark consists of a special substance and It contained metabolically inert proteins. This meant that once proteins were synthesized in the body, they were no longer replaced.

So when the shark was a baby can be isolated and radiocarbon dated It could be done. Based on this information and techniques, researchers have determined that Greenland sharks are extremely old.

Especially one of them, after long studies It turned out to be 400 years old and Greenland sharks thus became the world’s longest-lived vertebrates.

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