The oldest ages recorded for individual animals, from a 507-year-old ocean quahog clam to a deep-sea tubeworm of 170-plus years. Sponges and corals, which can be far older, are excluded as modular or colonial animals.
The Ocean quahog clam ("Ming") holds the record for the longest-lived individual animal, at 507 years, read from growth bands in its shell. The Greenland shark is second at an estimated 392 years and the cold-seep tubeworm third at more than 300 years. The ranking uses the oldest individual age per unitary animal species in Wikipedia's List of longest-living organisms, as of October 2026.
Some animals outlive the empires they were born into. The clam at the top of this list was already alive when Columbus sailed. Each entry is ranked by the oldest age given for a single individual of that animal, not the species' typical lifespan. Most of these ages are scientific estimates rather than birth records: growth bands in a clam's shell, radiocarbon in a shark's eye lens, chemistry in a whale's eye. Each entry says which kind of figure it is. Famous claims that were never confirmed, such as a 255-year-old tortoise and a 226-year-old koi, are left out of the ranking.
A single ocean quahog dredged off Iceland in 2006 was found to have lived 507 years, the oldest age recorded for any individual non-colonial animal. Its age was read from the annual growth bands in its shell.
A 2016 study in Science dated the eye lenses of Greenland sharks and found that the largest, a 5.02 m specimen, was between 272 and 512 years old. The 392 used here is the study's central estimate for that one shark, which makes the Greenland shark the longest-lived vertebrate known.
This deep-sea tubeworm from Gulf of Mexico cold seeps regularly reaches 100 to 200 years, and some individuals have been estimated at more than 300 years. The 300 is a lower bound; suggestions that some may reach 1,000 years are a projection and are not used.
The longest-lived mammal known: bowhead whales are estimated to have lived at least 211 years, based on chemical dating of the eye lens.
One of the longest-lived bony fish, the rougheye rockfish of the North Pacific has been recorded at an age of 205 years.
Specimens of this Pacific sea urchin have been found to be more than 200 years old; 200 is used as a lower bound.
Jonathan, who lives on Saint Helena, is reported to have hatched no later than 1832, which makes him at least 193 years old in October 2026 and the oldest known living land animal. Because the figure is a minimum, his true age may be higher.
Tu'i Malila hatched in 1777 and died in May 1966 at the age of 188, at the time the oldest verified vertebrate.
Harriet, a Galapagos tortoise, died in June 2006 at the reported age of 175.
This hydrocarbon-seep tubeworm from the Gulf of Mexico lives for more than 170 years. The 170 is a lower bound; the species' own Wikipedia article puts its longevity at over 250 years, which would move it up to fourth.
| # | Name | scientificName | group | agingMethod | ageType |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ocean quahog clam ("Ming") | Arctica islandica | Mollusk (bivalve) | Shell growth-band counting | Individual, measured |
| 2 | Greenland shark | Somniosus microcephalus | Fish (shark) | Eye-lens radiocarbon dating | Individual, estimated (272-512) |
| 3 | Cold-seep tubeworm | Escarpia laminata | Marine invertebrate (annelid) | Growth-rate modelling | Individual, estimated (300+) |
| 4 | Bowhead whale | Balaena mysticetus | Mammal (whale) | Aspartic-acid racemization of eye lens | Individual, estimated |
| 5 | Rougheye rockfish | Sebastes aleutianus | Fish (rockfish) | Otolith growth-zone counting | Individual, estimated |
| 6 | Red sea urchin | Mesocentrotus franciscanus | Marine invertebrate (echinoderm) | Growth model calibrated with radiocarbon | Individual, estimated (200+) |
| 7 | Seychelles giant tortoise ("Jonathan") | Aldabrachelys gigantea hololissa | Reptile (tortoise) | Historical records (minimum age) | Individual, recorded (minimum) |
| 8 | Radiated tortoise ("Tu'i Malila") | Astrochelys radiata | Reptile (tortoise) | Historical records | Individual, recorded |
| 9 | Galapagos tortoise ("Harriet") | Chelonoidis niger | Reptile (tortoise) | Historical records | Individual, recorded |
| 10 | Seep tubeworm (Lamellibrachia luymesi) | Lamellibrachia luymesi | Marine invertebrate (annelid) | Growth-rate modelling | Individual, estimated (170+) |
All figures come from one source: Wikipedia's List of longest-living organisms (revision of 15 October 2026), which cites the primary studies. Each animal is ranked by the oldest age that source gives for an individual of that species, in years. Where the source says "more than" a figure, that figure is used as a lower bound; for the Greenland shark the 2016 study's central estimate (392, range 272-512) is used. Jonathan, who is alive, is counted at his minimum age as of October 2026. Scope: unitary (non-colonial, non-modular) animals only. Corals are colonies of many polyps, and sponges are modular animals whose ages are extrapolated from growth rates; both are excluded. If they were counted, glass sponges estimated at more than 10,000 years, a giant barrel sponge at more than 2,300 years and black corals at about 4,265 years would rank above everything here. Also excluded are claims the source treats as unconfirmed (Adwaita the Aldabra tortoise, 255; Hanako the koi, 226; a European eel said to be 155) and hedged projections (a possible 1,000 years for Escarpia laminata; a freshwater pearl mussel maximum that "may be" 210-250 years). Just below tenth place are Timothy, a Greek tortoise who died at 165, and the geoduck clam, known to live more than 160 years.
Counting only unitary animals, the record is Ming, an ocean quahog clam found to have lived 507 years. If sponges are counted, glass sponges in the East China Sea and Southern Ocean have been estimated at more than 10,000 years, although that may be an overestimate.
The Greenland shark. A 2016 study in Science estimated that a 5.02 m specimen was between 272 and 512 years old, with a central estimate of 392.
The bowhead whale, estimated from eye-lens chemistry to live at least 211 years.
Corals are colonies of many polyps and sponges are modular animals, so this list leaves both out and ranks single, unitary animals. Adwaita the tortoise (255) and Hanako the koi (226) are left out because their ages were never confirmed.
More like this: all Animals & Nature rankings · browse every topic