The Greenland shark, an animal with impressive longevity

The Greenland shark slowly crosses the ocean and time. Its longevity is equivalent to “about 392 years, plus or minus 120 years, for a 5 m specimen”says Samuel Iglesias, a researcher at the National Museum of Natural History. In icy waters, its body temperature can drop to 1.8°C, slowing down its metabolism. Its heart rate fluctuates between 4 and 6 beats per minute. It is also said to have a heart that hardly ages.

The sturgeon can live 125 years, the lobster 140, the clam more than five centuries, and the Seychelles turtle can celebrate its 200th birthday. In his enclosure at the zoo, Maurice is still far from that at 40 years old. “Different mechanisms will protect the DNA, repair it, and in the event of cell damage, quickly eliminate these cells and prevent them from developing into cancerous cells,” explains Thomas Charpentier, veterinarian at La Palmyre Zoo (Charente-Maritime).