Discover Wildlife’s new ranking spans 10 species whose lifespans far exceed the human record of 122 years, from Jonathan the Seychelles giant tortoise at 193 to species described as potentially biologically immortal.
The list places Greenland sharks at 400-500 years, ocean quahog clams above 500 years, Black coral around 4,000 years and glass sponges as high as 15,000 years.
Among vertebrates, bowhead whales and rougheye rockfish can top 200 years, while the Greenland shark is identified as the longest-living vertebrate and the bowhead as the longest-living mammal.
The report links extreme longevity to traits such as slow aging, indeterminate growth, lifelong reproduction and strong DNA-repair mechanisms, especially in cold, deep or Arctic environments.
At the far end of the ranking, immortal jellyfish can revert to an earlier life stage and hydra stem cells self-renew indefinitely, making both examples of biological rather than literal immortality.