These living creatures have 'aging genes' some of us will be extremely envious of!
For example, Jonathan, a 186 year old tortoise, has lived on the British colony island Saint Helena for more than a century.
Giant tortoises are well-known for surpassing human life spans, but the fact that these creatures can survive for so long is astonishing! It all has to do with how they digest food so slowly, which fits their natural characteristic of being slow animals. These particular tortoises can live up to a year without a lick of food and drop of water.
And there are more creatures on land and underwater that surprise us with their aging genes.
Fish
If you've had a goldfish, you're always worried that when you wake up it will be floating on the surface of the water. But not all fish have a short life expectancy.
The oldest goldfish lived to be 45 years old!
The Koi fish can live to be 30 to 50 years of age, but one was reported to had lived for more than 200 years. "Hanako",the scarlet Koi, was estimated to have lived for 226 years, which was discovered by counting the growth rings of the fish's scales.
Tuatara
You'd think this is a lizard, but it's not. They are part of the order called Rhynchocephalia, which lived around 200 million years ago. They can live to be 100 to 200 years old, making them one of the longest-lived vertebrates on the planet. Tuatara's have a low body temperature, which helps them hibernate during the winter and process food much slower. So, the slower they live, the slower they age.
Cream Puff, The Cat
Cats don't have nine lives, but maybe Cream Puff did? The average life span of a domestic cat is 15-20 years, but Cream Puff, who lived in Austin, Texas with her owner, lived to be 38 years old! No one has discovered why she had lived that long, but some suspect it was from her diet of bacon, eggs, asparagus and broccoli.
You'll be blown away by the living expectancy of the creatures on the next page!
Spider
Spiders are not insects, but they're quite similar. For those who are terrified of spiders, you'll be disappointed to hear that they don't share a one-day lifespan like some of their insect cousins. The oldest spider is said to be 28 years old. Lucky for you, these spiders don't dwell in your house. It was a female tarantula who is believed to have survived off of birds. Her life span was all thanks to those protein gains.
Red Sea Urchins
You'd never expect this urchin to be alive, but it is. This particular breed can be found in the Pacific Ocean, along the West Coast of North America. Some of these sea urchins are more than 200 years old. This may be because they stay away from areas where crashing waves can damage their prickly "arms".
Greenland Sharks
What most of us know about sharks is that they are scary and enjoy human flesh, but in fact shark attacks are not common occurrences. So, we don't think too much about their age.
This particular breed of shark is known to live between 200 to 400 years. Scientists believe the reason for this is because their growth rate is slow, growing only 1 centimeter each year. These sharks become adults at the age of 100. That must be nice!
Jellyfish
We spend more time thinking about land animals than the ones underwater, so most of us are unaware about the lives of creatures living in the ocean.
That being said, jellyfish are one of the most fascinating living creatures because they've discovered the secret to everlasting youth. Jellyfish are known to be "biologically immortal"; their bodies deteriorate and then regenerate. For that reason, they've been lurking and surviving in the ocean for more than 700 million years.
Which one surprised you the most? Let us know!