Remember, in children's fairy tales, it is very often mentioned that, they say, a certain positive character after certain, as a rule, successful exploits, rules and long lived for a long time? Surely many of us will be able to recall even a few examples.
But have you ever thought about someone who actually lives 300 years? And are there such creatures in the world at all, or is all this longevity nothing more than the next fiction of science fiction writers?
Let's try to figure out the situation. In this article, we will scientifically track and justify who has lived 300 years on planet Earth and whether this is possible in principle. The reader will get acquainted with several types of living creatures and receive a brief description of their life.
Section 1. General Information
Agree, the topic of immortality has always worried humanity. It would probably be foolish to wonder why. Well, of course, the whole point is that this would allow people to have power over all living things. Imagine what would happen if we finally acquired the ability to regenerate unhealthy organs and restore lost limbs? To put it mildly, it would be great!
To date, the best scientists on the planet are working on the problem of prolonging life, but, unfortunately, this remains only within dreams.
But if for us this kind of opportunity is just a fantasy, then for many animals it is in the order of things. Of course, they do not live forever, and just like us, they age and die over time, but compared to humans, they are real champions in longevity. And some individuals survived even their brothers and were eyewitnesses of many historical events on the planet. It’s a pity that we never learned to understand them properly ... How much valuable information could be obtained!
So which animal living on Earth lives the longest? Are there any champions? Consider several convincing examples.
Section 2. Amazing Red Sea Urchin
These mysterious sea creatures live in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, mainly off the west coast of North America. Red sea urchins prefer quiet places on a virtually uninhabited ocean floor and usually live at a depth of at least 90 meters. Their life expectancy is several centuries.
Scientists know that they all move little, attach to the sea soil and feed mainly on small organisms that are swallowed with water and then filtered.
Modern researchers believe that echinoderms of this species are virtually immortal and have no signs of aging. By the way, sea urchins at the age of one hundred are as fertile as their ten-year-old relatives. They can die only from diseases or predators.
Indeed, a sea urchin is one who lives 300 years, and maybe longer.
Section 3. Have you heard about the hatteria?
This mysterious animal was properly studied only many years after discovery. Subsequently, it turned out that such creatures disappeared from the face of the earth many millions of years ago, and hatteria remained the only species of this detachment of reptiles.
It is extremely interesting that the internal structure of the organs of the hatteria has a similar physiology with the crocodile, tortoise, fish and snake, as well as with the ancient, long-extinct megalosaurs, ichthyosaurs and teleosaurs.
Today, we can say with confidence that hatteria are contemporaries of the dinosaur era and can reach the age of two hundred years.
Section 4. Greenland Whale
The bowhead whale is dark in color and has no dorsal fin. The length of this giant mammal can reach 20 meters, and weight - 100 tons.
Unlike other whales migrating for breeding to other places, the bowhead whale lives only in arctic and subarctic waters. Unfortunately, these days the number of these giants has decreased dramatically, and they are certainly in danger.
In one of the articles of a scientist from the University of Alaska, Ned Rosella describes a whale over the age of 210 years. True, it should be noted that the accuracy of the method used to determine the age range was only 16%, which means that there is a great chance that this animal could be 177-245 years old.
These studies show that the bowhead whale is one of the oldest mammals on the planet, although the media usually report that turtles live 300 years from the permanent inhabitants of the water depths, and this is simply impossible for all other representatives of the underwater kingdom . It’s worth considering ...
Section 5. Carp Koi Hanako
Koi carp belongs to the decorative variety of ordinary carps, which are bred in the usual garden ponds for all of us.
Fish of this species can have a different color, pattern or size of scales. Most often there are specimens of white, black, red, yellow, blue or cream colors.
Interestingly, the age of the carp can be calculated by the number of rings on the scales. By the way, the age of the tree is also determined by the rings located on the trunk. The oldest carp koi Hanako, who died in July 1977, lived up to 226 years.
Section 6. Giant Tortoise
Giant Seychelles turtles, which are famous for their longevity, can be attributed to reptiles-centenarians. Their average life expectancy is 100-150 years. Of course, they cannot be attributed to those who actually live 300 years, but, according to the research of modern scientists, one of such representatives of the mentioned species was the Advaita tortoise, surpassing all its relatives and living for more than 250 years.
Advaita spent the last century of her life in captivity in the zoo of the city of Calcutta, where she died at a fairly advanced age. The lack of a natural habitat and limited space did not affect the life span of the turtle , which in most cases, as a rule, adversely affects animals.
Section 7. Goldfish Tishka
Decorative fish that live in aquariums are not particularly survivable and longevity, often sick and die. Usually they please their owners no more than one year. But one goldfish named Tish became a real champion in vitality and spent 43 years in the aquarium.
The owners accidentally won a small fish at an auction. With them, she spent her whole life until old age. She got into the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest aquarium fish in the world.
Section 8. Does the raven really live 300 years?
In general, I would immediately like to note that such a statement is nothing more than a myth invented by lovers of these birds and many mysteries, legends and secrets that connect them.
So, let's try to understand and look at the problem from a scientific point of view. How long does a raven live? 300 years old? 200? And perhaps he is completely immortal?
It was always believed that these representatives of the feathered genus can live more than a hundred years. But, speaking about the life span of these birds, you need to decide which ravens will be discussed. What is the catch? Let's try to explain. The thing is that there are two types: crows and crows, each of which has its own life expectancy, depending on the environment and content.
So thieves. In nature, these living creatures are susceptible to various diseases, attacks of enemies and malnutrition. Considering that these birds live mainly next to humans, the ecological situation of large cities is of great importance. Which conclusion follows from this? Very simple! To the question about which bird has lived 300 years, we can safely answer: it’s definitely not a crows! In captivity, she can live up to 30 years, and in nature - no more than 10-15.
Their fellow Orons are much larger and more beautiful, their pitch black plumage glistens and shimmers with green, blue and purple. However, the question "why ravens live 300 years", unfortunately, can be classified as rhetorical. Why? The thing is that this is longevity, like the stories that these birds have nine human lives, nothing more than a beautiful legend, not supported by any scientific facts.
And yet, how long do crows live? In fact, individuals in captivity can live up to a maximum of 70 years. And in natural habitats, their life span is even shorter - 30-40 years, on average, birds die at the age of 10-15 years.
Section 9. Immortal inhabitant of the planet Earth
True, is it, but the immortal resident of our planet is considered to be the jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula, which lives in tropical and temperate waters.
The uniqueness of this creature is that it is able to reverse its life cycle of development - from an adult, it again returns to the initial stage, turning into a small polyp. The secret of the eternal life of jellyfish is the ability of transdifferentiation, which consists in converting cells of one type into another. This phenomenon is still little studied by scientists.
An adult jellyfish, having reached puberty, settles on the seabed, draws in tentacles and begins to turn into a polyp. The transformation of the cells of the whole body can occur endlessly, so these creatures are able to live forever. It is proved that the death of gelatinous organisms of the aforementioned species is not associated with old age. Various diseases and predators pose a great danger to them. Thanks to the peculiar gift of rebirth, these jellyfish inhabit almost the entire world ocean, and they are not threatened with extinction.
Scientists are studying with interest the phenomenon of immortality of jellyfish. All studies are conducted in laboratory conditions, and experts hope that scientific work will help to uncover the secret of eternal life and youth. Well, as they say, wait and see!