The Oldest Animals in the World.

No matter how many years you have lived or how old you feel,  each and every one of us is a baby compared to these guys.  There are many examples in the animal kingdom that will make  even the oldest person in the world feel like a youngster. In the  following list you will find the "age record holders of the wild",  the last one even changed everything we thought we knew about  natural life and ageing! Cookie the Cockatoo

This male Major Mitchell's Cockatoo, residing at Brookfield Zoo  near Chicago, is believed to be the oldest member of his species  alive at the age of 81. He has significantly exceeded the average  lifespan for his kind and is one of the longest living birds in known  history. Just to give you a comparison to compare his amazing  age, the next oldest Major Mitchell's Cockatoo is "only" 31 years old.

Greater the Flamingo

Named after his breed of "Grater Flamingos", Greater was a true  fighter with an incredible story. While others of his kind have an  average life expectancy of 20 – 25 years, Greater lived to be 83  years old. This senior citizen of the Adelaide Zoo in Australia even  survived a shocking case of abuse in 2008. He was put to sleep  in 2014 to spare him from pains caused by medical conditions.

Bowhead Whales

These giant mammals live in the freezing waters of the Arctic Circle  and are known to live up to 200 years. This makes them the longest  living mammals on Earth. In addition, to get all the food they need to  live that long, Bowhead Whales are also the record holders for the largest mouth of any animal.

Granny the Orca

This Killer Whale is 103 years old, making her the oldest known orca  alive. Granny was captured and released with the rest of her pod in  1967. Despite her age, she was just as active and able as other  members of the pod.

Henry the Tuatara

The Tuatara are lizards found only in New Zealand and Herny is the oldest known one at the age of 115. Not only is he the undisputed star of the Southland Museum in Invercargill, but he also became a proud father a few years ago, possibly for the first time, at the age of 111.

George the Lobster

Lobsters don’t stop growing for as long as they live so when 20 pounds (9.1 kg) George was captured in 2008, it was clear he is no young boy. Researchers estimate he is about 140 years old and even though he was bought by a sea food restaurant in New York, this old-timer was released to live out the rest of his days in freedom.

Orange Roughy Fish

The orange roughy is notable for its extraordinary lifespan, about  150 years. These fish have "growth rings" on their body much like  a tree has. By counting by the rings of orange roughys it was found  that they can live to a maximum age of 125 to 156 years. The fish  is actually a bright, brick-red color however, the orange roughy fades  to a yellowish orange after death.

Russian Sturgeon Fish

Most of these fish live for 55 – 60 years, but there have been known cases of some sturgeons living up to 152 years old. Whats really amazing about them is that they are living fossils, they have existed in their current form since the time of the dinosaurs!

Geoduck

These large, edible, saltwater clams are mostly found along the west  coast of North America. The shell of the clam ranges from 15 centimetres  (5.9 in) to over 20 centimeters (7.9 in) in length, but the extremely long  siphons make the clam itself much longer than this. The "neck", or siphons, alone can be up to 1 meter (3.3 ft) in length. The geoduck is both one of the largest clams in the world, and one of the longest-lived animals of any type. The oldest recorded specimen was 168 years old.

Red Sea Urchins

Most of this spiky little creatures live to about 30 years of age, which is about average in the animal kingdom and not really impressive. However, marine biologists have found some Red Sea Urchins in the freezing north waters near Alaska that were almost 200 years old!

Adwaita the Giant Tortoise

His name means "the only one" in Sanskrit. He was believed to be  amongst the longest-living animals in the world when he died in 2006,  at the age of 255 years. Adwaita was reportedly given to Robert Clive  of the East India Company by British seafarers who captured it from  Aldabra, an atoll in the Seychelles Islands. Weighing 250 kg (590 lb),  he lived on a DIET of wheat bran, carrots, lettuce, soaked gram, bread, grass and salt.

Ming the Clam

Ming was a nickname given to a specimen of the ocean quahog clam  that was dredged off the coast of Iceland in 2006.  Its age was  calculated by counting the annual growth lines in the shell. Originally  thought to be 405 years old, the clam was later determined to be 507  years old! Ming was the oldest individual (non-colonial) animal ever  discovered.

The immortal jellyfish

This is a species of small jellyfish which is found in the Mediterranean Sea and in the waters of Japan. It is unique in that it exhibits a certain form of "immortality". It is the only known case of an animal capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary stage. Simply speaking, this means that it has the ability to change its age from mature to baby. Theoretically, this process can go on indefinitely, effectively rendering the jellyfish biologically immortal.

Source: Enjoy The Mast Group