New Study Finds 390-Year-Old Greenland Shark
A new study of Greenland sharks has found one that scientists say is probably 390 years old, making her the longest-living vertebrate on earth. Indeed, that age means the shark was born in 1631, just 11 years after the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, and during the reign of King Charles 1 of England, although he was beheaded in 1649 after the English Civil War. Julius Nielsen, a marine biologist at the University of Copenhagen and the lead author of the new study, said, “I think everyone doing this research was very surprised to learn the sharks were as old…