Photo: Franco Banfi (Getty)
That shark has seen a lot of chaos in its 500 plus years on earth I’m sure.
Located in the waters of the Arctic, scientists believe they have found a shark that they estimate to be up to 512-years-old. That’s right, kids, over 500 years old. By measuring its size, scientists are suggesting that the shark could have been born as early as 1505, before the great Shakespeare was born — making this shark the oldest living vertebrate in the world.
This particular shark is known as a Greenland shark and have been known to live for hundreds of years. These sharks also live in icy waters and can swim as deep as 7,200ft. This shark was measured at 18ft in length, and this type of species grows at a rate of o.3 inches per year. The shark’s potential age was revealed in a study in the Science journal,
Out of 28 Greenland sharks that scientists analyzed, this one was the oldest one. And here is another fun fact: these sharks usually spend their time swimming around and looking for a mate. And that pretty much sounds like what the majority of people do.
h/t Metro
