‘Ming’, an ancient clam (
Arctica islandica), was caught off Iceland in October 2007, aged at 405-410 years. This makes it (the sex of this individual was not reported) the oldest living animal recorded so far. It is not clear how long this clam might have lived if it had not been dragged from its ocean home, but 400+ years is not too bad!
Ageing
Any animal that can live for centuries might be sitting on a few secrets, and a charity in England has given the researchers a £40,000 grant to look into the matter. Richard Faragher, a gerontologist at Brighton University, said: ‘We need to find out how it retains muscle strength, remains cancer-free and keeps its nervous system intact over such a long period of time.’ He also said ‘It has the most boring life’ – so maybe it won’t be all good news when the clam’s secrets are revealed!
Climate Research
‘Ming’ was dredged up as part of a study looking into recent climate change. These clams show growth-rings in their shell rather like tree-rings (this was how his/her age was determined), and the study of other very old clam shells has produced detailed
climate records.
The name ‘Ming’
This individual clam was nicknamed ‘Ming’ after the Chinese Dynasty (1368 to 1644.) - it must have first settled on the ocean floor around 1600!
