Rare people reach the age of over 100, but in the animal world, there are species that live hundreds or even thousands of years old such as turtles, sea urchins, sponges…

As the highest form of evolution, humans are increasingly increasing their lifespan. However, in the natural world, there are many age-old champions that it is unknown when humans will be able to “usurp the throne”.

1. Immortal jellyfish

Hydra jellyfish can live forever by reversing their life cycle from adulthood back to single-celled life and from there continuing to develop. With this way of existence, they are immortal animals in the world.

2. Antarctic sponge

Perhaps due to the extremely low temperatures in Antarctica, Antarctic sponges, these immobile creatures, have an extremely slow growth rate. Some estimates suggest this species can live up to 1,550 years.

3. Ocean mussels

Sea mussels are often exploited for commercial purposes. Researchers interpret the concentric circles or lines on seashells as age rings similar to those found in trees. According to some samples, the lifespan of sea mussels can be up to 400 years.

4. Turtle

As the vertebrate with the longest lifespan in the world, turtles are elders. There was a turtle named Harriet, who lived on the Galapagos Island and died in 2006 at the age of 175, having been born before Darwin arrived here. The record for turtles is Adwaita, a giant tortoise on the Galapagos Island, which is 250 years old.

5. Koi carp

Just an ornamental fish that lives in artificial stone tanks, Japanese carp (Koi) can live to be more than 200 years old. The oldest known fish is Hanako, who died on July 7, 1977 at the age of 226.

6. Antarctic whales

As the longest-living mammal in the world, Antarctic whales can live up to 211 years old. Scientists once found ivory tags still stuck in their meat during a hunt 200 years ago.

7. Red sea urchin

Red sea urchins are found only in the Pacific Ocean, along the west coast of North America. This species lives in shallow water, up to 90m deep. They move using their spines like stilts. The species’ lifespan is up to more than 200 years.

8. Vestimentiferan tubeworm

This mollusk lives in a protective shell and remains stationary throughout its life. Vestimentiferan tubeworms have a body length of up to 3m and often live in very large groups, possibly up to thousands. They live concentrated in the northern Gulf of Mexico, where the depth is more than 750m below sea level. Vestimentiferan tubeworms grow very slowly, often they can live longer than 250 years.

9. Tuatara lizard

The Tuatara lizard that exists today is the remaining representative of a species that flourished 200 million years ago on Earth. They are vertebrates and can live up to 200 years.

10. Large native saltwater oysters from Puget Sound

Their lifespan is at least 160 years. Their characteristic long “necks” or water-transmitting nozzles can be more than a meter long. In some places, this species is also called elephant trunk clam.