The Rare Shark Species That Will Outlive Us All

Earth is full of creatures with unbelievably long lifespans. The tardigrade, for example, is the most indestructible organism ever found and has been on our planet for roughly 600 million years. But there are other, non-microscopic animals with incredible lifespans. If we're including invertebrates, there are numerous creatures that could survive an apocalypse, but when it comes to vertebrates, there is a shark species that is one of the most hardy animals in existence, easily outliving human beings.

The Greenland shark can be found in the deep waters of the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans, where it swims at depths of up to 7,200 feet and is the only shark species capable of weathering the punishingly cold conditions of such frigid environments. This elusive shark is rarely seen due to the fact it inhabits such remote areas of the ocean, but we do know that it has the longest lifespan of any vertebrate. Until very recently, scientists suspected the Greenland shark was capable of living for extraordinarily long periods, based on the animal's incredibly slow growth rate, which works out to less than half an inch each year. Considering these sharks reach over 19 feet in length, it would take a remarkably long time for them to reach such a size. However, researchers remained unclear on exactly how long the Greenland shark was capable of living. Now, we have a better understanding of just how hardy these deep-sea dwelling creatures are.

Everything about the Greenland shark points toward an extended lifespan. The incredibly slow-moving creature can be found meandering through the depths of the northern oceans at a top speed of under 1.8 mph. What's more, they don't reach sexual maturity until they pass the century mark, with females eventually giving birth after a drawn-out gestation period of between 8 and 18 years. You might well expect an animal so defined by its slow-paced lifestyle to live for a very long time, and you'd be right.

Determining just how long the Greenland shark can live has proven tricky thus far, as the species doesn't have the ear bones on which scientists rely to date other fish. Calcified tissue on the backbones of great white sharks can be used to get a good idea of how old they are, but with Greenland sharks, there are no hard body parts, and therefore no growth layers that reveal their age.

Thankfully, in 2016 researchers were able to make significant progress on that front by looking at proteins suspended in the sharks' eyes. A study published in the journal Science carbon-dated the eye lens nuclei of 28 female Greenland sharks, leading the researchers to conclude the species had a lifespan of at least 272 years. Carbon dating couldn't provide exact ages but it did allow the team to gain a deeper insight into just how resilient the species is. The largest shark included in the study was 16.4 feet long and results showed she was 392 years old, plus or minus 120 years. That put her between 272 and 512 years old. Even if the former was the more accurate estimate, it would still make the Greenland shark the vertebrate with the longest lifespan.

A shark potentially capable of living for more than 500 years is a truly unique discovery, and makes the Greenland shark one of only a handful of animals that live longer than tortoises. But what exactly allows this reclusive species to live for such impressively long periods? That has been an ongoing topic of debate and research, but the species' long lifespan looks to be the result of a number of different factors. Scientists had long suspected that the shark's cold habitat and its slow movements were the main factors at play, and while they undoubtedly play a role, research conducted in recent years has shed more light on the Greenland shark's longevity.

In 2024, Ewan Camplisson, a biologist and PhD student at the University of Manchester, presented new research that noted how other Arctic fish don't have anywhere near the longevity of the Greenland shark despite living in very similar conditions and moving in a similarly slow and minimal way. The northern wolffish, for example, only has a lifespan of just 20 years and often shorter. As such, Camplisson suspected there was more to the Greenland shark's ability to survive for such long periods, and led a team in exploring the species' metabolism.

Taking the preserved red muscle from 23 Greenland sharks, the researchers suspended their samples in liquid and observed how metabolic enzymes reacted when activated. The research, presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in July 2024, showed that the shark's metabolism didn't slow down, regardless of whether the sample was older or not, suggesting that the Greenland shark's metabolism stays steady throughout its lifespan, thereby contributing to its longevity. But that's just part of the picture ...

The slow movements, cold environment, and steady metabolism of the Greenland shark all help to keep the remarkable species alive for so long. But research is still underway into the shark's lifespan. In 2025, Japanese researchers studying the Greeenland shark's genome uncovered one more piece of the puzzle when they found multiple copies of certain genes that hinted at yet another factor in the species' longevity. In a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed preprint paper, the team showed how Greenland sharks have "significantly increased" genes involved in NF-κB signaling when compared to sharks with shorter lifespans. The NF-κB pathway plays a role in the animal's immune system, helping to regulate inflammation, and if affected, can allow pathogens and tumor cells to proliferate. These factors can have a major impact on aging and lifespan, and increased levels of the NF-κB signaling genes could well be part of the reason the Greenland shark is able to outlast so many other species.

Elsewhere, another team of researchers involved in sequencing the Greenland shark genome uncovered multiple copies of 81 genes that help with DNA repair including an altered version of the TP53 gene, which aids in stopping tumors from developing. In a preprint paper from September 2024, the research team argues that this TP53 mutation could play a role in extending the lifespan of the Greenland shark.

Understanding how this elusive shark species lives for such long periods isn't just about solving the mystery itself. Findings could have major implications for humans, too, with Ewan Camplisson telling Yahoo, "I believe that if we can work out how the Greenland shark lives so long and how they seem to be so resilient to age related diseases (such as cardiac disease), we may be able to improve the quality of life within the elderly human population."