400 year-old Greenland shark is the oldest vertebrate on the planet!

Grey, plump and growing to lengths of around five metres, the Greenland shark is one of the world’s largest carnivores. With a reported growth rate of less than one centimetre a year, they were already thought to be long-lived creatures, but just how long they lived for was something of a mystery.

That is, until Julius Nielsen and an international team of researchers set about determining the age of 28 female Greenland sharks, collected as by-catch during scientific surveys between 2010 and 2013.

And here's the record-breaker. She was born during the reign of James I, she was a youngster when the Great Fire of London raged, she reached adulthood around the time of the American Revolution, and lived through two world wars.

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Now wouldn't it be great if somebody submitted a story for SHARKPUNK 2 about a Greenland shark. Oh, hang on, somebody already has. ;-)