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By Ryan Sit

Staff Writer

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Danish scientists believe they've discovered the oldest living vertebrate: a Greenland shark lurking in the frigid North Atlantic and Arctic waters that could be up to 512 years old, according to the journal Science.

Greenland sharks grow at torpid pace of only about one centimeter per year. So when the scientists discovered a female shark measuring about 18 feet, it was clear the shark had witnessed a few centuries of history.

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A 1000 kg monster tagged and released ðŸ™ðŸ» #greenlandsharkproject

A post shared by Julius (@juniel85) on May 6, 2017 at 1:06pm PDT

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The team used radiocarbon dating to analyze the eye lens of 28 Greenland sharks. The oldest shark studied was likely about 392 years old. Radiocarbon dating has 95 percent certainty, meaning that the shark's true age could range between 272 and 512 years. If the data proves correct, the shark could have been alive when Galileo Galilei was still mapping the cosmos and Dutch settlers hadn't yet made it to New York City, and she would have been at least 151 years old when the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence. Incredibly, the average age of sexual maturity for Greenland sharks is 156, but it could also occur as young as 134, according to the findings.

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A satellite tag from from this female, which we caught earlier this year in #Greenland, has just reported her position. She is now ~500 km from capture location and she is not alone.... another shark tagged on same expedition is almost at the same location. This is the first piece of evidence on #Greenlandshark group migration. Good job GS304 and GS309 👊ðŸ»ðŸ¦ˆðŸ‘ŠðŸ»ðŸ¦ˆ #greenlandsharkproject #tagandrelease #oldandcold #extremefishing #science #sharkscience #psat #wildlifecomputers #arctic #ocean #fishing #shark #marinebiology #marinescience #conservation

A post shared by Julius (@juniel85) on Sep 7, 2017 at 12:44am PDT

Little is known about the species. They have been observed in depths down to 1.4 miles. The sharks are known to prowl the Arctic and North Atlantic from eastern Canada to western Russia, but in 2013, a deep-sea research submarine spotted a 12-foot Greenland shark in the Gulf of Mexico. Greenland sharks have a distinct short and rounded snout and small eyes, and their rough skin can be creamy gray or blackish-brown. They are apex predators with a diet consisting mostly of other fish.

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In exactly 1 hr and 7 minutes a satellite tag will pop-off from this Greenland shark female, it will float to the surface and establish contact with an Argos satellite. It will then transmit information on position as well as occupied temperatures the past 3 months. By tomorrow morning I will hopefully have the data which just can make it into my PhD before ending in four weeks. All of this (except handing in PhD in four weeks) will however only happen IF 1) the shark is not under sea ice (which would inhibit satellite transmission), 2) the sea is not too rough where the shark is which could lead to that the tag cap can’t be exposed properly in the air or 3) that the shark has not been deeper than 2,000 m which would have crushed the tag and destroyd it.... it also requires that there is no annoying animal eating the tag before we get the data which happened to us on a previous deployment. FINGERS CROSSED🤞ðŸ»#greenlandsharkproject Photo credit: Takuji Noda 📸

A post shared by Julius (@juniel85) on Oct 29, 2017 at 2:52pm PDT

Before the study, led by marine biologist Julius Nielsen, the longest-living vertebrate on Earth was thought to be a bowhead whale. Its estimated lifespan is 211 years, according to Science.

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