Photo courtesy Julius Nielsen / IUSB

SOUTH BEND — An IU South Bend professor and his colleagues have recently had research published in the prestigious Science journal showing how sharks in Greenland are at least 300 years old, making them the longest-lived vertebras on earth.

Professor Peter Bushnell has been part of a project studying Greenland sharks since 2011.

According to his team’s research, these sharks live deep in the cold waters of the Artic and North Atlantic Oceans, making them elusive and hard to study until now.

The species, Somniosus microcephalus, can reach 21 feet long and weigh 2,000 pounds. Their average lifespan is 272 years, reaching sexual maturity around 150 years.

Some, according to the research, may even live beyond 400 years.

You can read the full research paper here.

Source: WNDU