12 Of The Oldest Animals Ever, Ranked By Age

Many animals can live much longer than their average lifespan.
Cockatoos and turtles have lived for 100 years or more, while Greenland sharks have lived for over 400 years.
We've collected some of the world's oldest animals.

While humans live longer than many other animals, some species are just short of the human lifespan (about 72 years, according to the World Health Organization). Giant tortoises, for example, can live for over 100 years, while smooth whales can live for up to 200 years.

Additionally, some individual animals have exceeded the lifespan of their species, becoming famous through this feat.

Here are the 12 oldest animals in the world by age.

The oldest living male gorilla is believed to be 65 years old.

The western lowland gorilla is a subspecies native to the Congo River Basin and is the most widespread of all gorilla subspecies. Their lifespan in nature varies from 30 to 40 years. In captivity, they can live over 50 years.

Until his death in 2017 at the age of 60, Kola, a western lowland gorilla at the Columbus Zoo, was the oldest gorilla in the world to be born in a zoo. The name Cola, short for Columbus, Ohio, was chosen through a contest.

Currently, two female gorillas share the same surname: Fatu at Berlin Zoo in Germany and Trudy at Little Rock Zoo in Arkansas, both 65 years old. Ozzie was the oldest male gorilla at Zoo Atlanta, Georgia. Male, 61 years old.

The surviving albatross is at least 71 years old.

Albatrosses, with wingspans of up to 11 feet, can live 50 years or more. The longest-lived albatross in the United States - and one of the oldest known wild birds in the world - is Leyson's albatross named Wisdom.

Wisdom is thought to be at least 71 years old, well beyond his species' normal lifespan of 12 to 40 years. She has made headlines several times because she still lays eggs in her old age. The wisteria returns to its nesting site on Midway Atoll in the North Pacific every year.

At the National Zoo in Washington, DC, Ambika is believed to be 71 years old, possibly making him the oldest living elephant.

Asian elephants typically live into their 50s. However, few of them have reached the age of 80. Lin Wang, an Asian elephant, lived in the Taipei Zoo in Taiwan and is 86 years old. At the time of his death in 2003, he was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest elephant in captivity.

Dakshayani, an elephant from the Chingalore Mahadeva temple in Kerala, India, also lived a long life. Nicknamed "Gaga Mutsi" (meaning "elephant grandmother"), she died in 2019 at the age of 88.

The United States has several Asian elephants in their 60s: Shirley, who lives in an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee, is 70, and Ambika, from the National Zoo in Washington, DC, is 71. However, it should be noted that these are ages. This is often appreciated.

Fred, the oldest cockatoo in the world, is over 100 years old.

A cockatoo is one of 20 species of birds in the parrot subfamily Cacatuinae. Typically, they live for 60 years, but some have been kept in captivity for over a century.

For example, Fred, a sulfur cockatoo found in the Bunurong Wildlife Sanctuary in Tasmania, Australia, lives to be 104 years old.

Another Australian sulfur cockatoo known as "Cookie Bennett" is said to have lived to be 120 years old before dying in 1916. Bennett lived in a hotel.

Kuki, Major Mitchell's cockatoo, was also known for his longevity. He lived at Brookfield Zoo outside of Chicago, Illinois when he was 83 and died in 2016.

Jonathan, a giant tortoise born in the Seychelles, is 190 years old.

Giant tortoises are renowned for their longevity. One of the most famous examples is Lonesome George, the last representative of the species on Pinto Island. When he died in 2012, he was believed to be over 100 years old.

Jonathan, a giant tortoise born in the Seychelles, is still in development. At 190, he was named the world's oldest land animal by the Guinness Book of World Records. Since 1882 (50 years after his birth), Jonathan has lived on the island of Saint Helena, located in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean.

Jonathan is also Kelowna's oldest. (Chelonia is the scientific order that includes tortoises, tortoises, and tortoises).

The tuatara, sometimes called a "living fossil", can live up to 100 years. One of the oldest representatives of this species named Henry is more than 120 years old.

The Tuatara are descended from an extinct group of reptiles that roamed the Earth alongside the dinosaurs. These scaly creatures are endemic to New Zealand, where they live on 32 islands. Creatures can live for over 100 years.

Henry, one of the oldest living tutors, is at least 123 years old. It is housed in the Southland Museum and Art Gallery, which houses the Tartarium.

Henry and his girlfriend Mildred have been laying eggs together since 2009, when he was 111 (although Mildred would be 70).

Bowhead whales can live for over 200 years. The specific arc is counted in 211.

With a lifespan of over 200 years, the whale is the longest-lived marine mammal. In addition to its longevity, this species is known for its eponymous head, which has the largest mouth of any creature in the animal kingdom.

According to Medical Daily, in 2007 a group of Inupiat from Alaska encountered an old whale with six harpoons. The harpoons date to the late 19th century, suggesting the whale was around 211 years old when it died.

According to a 2016 study, the lifespan of a female Greenland shark is estimated at 400 years.

In a 2016 study, researchers found that Greenland sharks live an average of around 272 years. However, sharks living in the North Atlantic can live for over 400 years, as evidenced by the unnamed 400-year-old Greenland shark.

The largest sharks recorded in the study measured 493cm (16ft) and 502cm (16.5ft) and were 335 and 392 years old respectively.

A potential secret to this species' longevity may be its slow growth rate of around 1 centimeter (0.39 in) per year. In July 2022, a Greenland shark was found in the unusual sea of Belize.

An ocean quahog oyster named Ming lived for over 500 years.

The ocean quahog, a type of clam, typically lives between 100 and 200 years old. One of these molluscs, named Min, was 507 years old when it was discovered off the coast of Iceland in 2006. To estimate Ming's age, researchers counted the scratches on its shells.

Min was part of a group of 200 shellfish taken from the sea and frozen as part of a climate change research project.

There is a type of "immortal" jellyfish that is said to age.

The only thing better than living too long is finding a way to defeat death. One species of jellyfish, Turritopsis dohrnii, is virtually unharmed. As the gelatin ages, it eventually settles to the sea floor and becomes a colony of polyps (individual organisms). The polyps produce new, genetically identical jellyfish.

When Turritopsis dohrnii is physically injured or begins to starve, it can transform into a polyp at will, which in turn produces a new, genetically identical jellyfish.

Some Elkhorn corals in Florida and the Caribbean are over 5,000 years old.

Many of the planet's oldest creatures live underwater, including corals. A 2016 study by Penn State researchers found that some genotypes of Acropora palmata (elkhorn coral) in Florida and the Caribbean are over 5,000 years old.

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