The World's Oldest Animal

Did you know that the world's oldest animal, a species of deep sea coral, can live to be over four thousand years old? Some that began life at the height of the ancient Egyptian empire are still alive!

Even these animals, which have survived for so long and live so deep that few humans have ever seen them, are threatened by human actions. The commerical fishing practice known as deep sea trawling (dragging a net across the bottom) kills these corals, along with many other animals.

"At four thousand years old, the Leiopathes sp. black corals beat the quahog clams, which live to be four hundred, and they beat the tortoise Jonathon, who’s 176."

http://deepseanews.com/2009/03/deep-corals-are-worlds-oldest-animal/

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by whysharksmatter.


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Deep sea trawling is yet another human achievement which will prove us to be victims of our own success. Damn advanced monkeys! Stupid monkeys, taking all the life forms with us as we multiply. Oops. Shoulda stuck with the reptilian brain.
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Isn't coral a colony life-form rather than a single organism? I believe they are referred to as clonal colonies. Some trees have been older than 4,000 years old.
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