1. The Immortal Jellyfish. The Turritopsis dohrnii jellyfish is the planet's only known immortal species. Once it reproduces, it reverts back to a polyp stage and lives its life over and over again.
Clam. The ocean quahog is a fist-size clam that can live to be 500 years or older.
The uncontroversial choice for the longest-living animal is the quahog clam. A clam named Ming died at the advanced age of 507 years old when researchers hauled it up from the depths off the coast of Iceland. The clam was named Ming after the Chinese dynasty that was in power during its early life.
One of these trees has been measured to be over 4,850 years old! While this may make it the longest-living single organism on land, it seems it is surpassed by a sea sponge.
The oldest known living terrestrial animal is Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea hololissa), originally from the Seychelles but now a long-time resident of the remote South Atlantic island of St Helena. He is believed to have been born c. 1832, thus making him 190 years old in 2022.
"Someone could even live to 1,000, but the probability of that is one in 1 quintillion," Milholland added. (If all the humans who have ever lived in the history of the species were totaled up, we'd still fall short of 1 quintillion.)
Humans' life expectancy (average) is 70-85 years. However, the oldest verified person (Jeanne Clement, 1875-1997) lived up to 122 years. As a person ages, the telomeres (chromosome ends) tend to become shorter in every consecutive cycle of replication.
The record for the longest recorded human lifespan is held by Jeanna Calment, a French woman who lived to be 122. When she was born in 1875, the average life expectancy was only around 40 years old.
The tubeworm Escarpia laminata that lives in deep sea cold seeps regularly reaches the age of between 100 and 200 years, with some individuals determined to be more than 300 years old. Some may live for over 1000 years.
According to one tradition, Epimenides of Crete (7th, 6th centuries BC) lived nearly 300 years.
The current record for human lifespan is held by Jeanne Calment, who lived to be 122 years and 164 days old. While this is an impressive achievement, it is still far from the 300-year mark. In fact, there is currently no scientific evidence to suggest that it is possible for humans to live for such a long time.
The Social Security Administration's middle-range forecasts indicate that in 2050 e(0) will be 80.0 and 83.4 years for males and females, respectively (table 2). The Census Bureau (CB) forecasts that in 2050 e(0) for males and females will be 80.9 and 85.3 years, respectively.
While, as shown with creatures such as hydra and Planarian worms, it is indeed possible for a creature to be biologically immortal, these are animals which are physiologically very different from humans, and it is not known if something comparable will ever be possible for humans.
There is much debate among researchers about the mechanisms that contribute to the ageing process. However, it is widely accepted that damage to genetic material, cells and tissues that accumulates with age and cannot be repaired by the body is the cause of the loss of function associated with ageing.
Compared to the 70-year life expectancy of baby boomers and the 85-year life expectancy of Gen X, Gen Z is predicted to have a life expectancy of over 100 years. Major factors contributing to the same are improvements in the standard of living, medical progress, and health consciousness.
Your chances of being born as a human being is a shocking 0.00001%! Looking at all these facts, you may be wondering… How on earth were you born as a human being?
In 7 years, humans might be able to live indefinitely, predicts Ray Kurzweil, a futurist with a track record of accurate predictions. He believes that with the technological advances and expansions, we're witnessing today in genetics, robotics, and nanotechnology; we'll soon have nanobots running through our veins.
Can humans live forever? While the population can expect to live longer lives on average, the human lifespan might have a cap. Scientists believe that the human lifespan could be anywhere from 120-150 years long, but not longer than that, due to accumulating hallmarks of aging and chronic disease.
The increased longevity of humans is, in part, attributable to environmental changes; improved food, water, and hygiene; reduced impact of infectious disease; and improved medical care at all ages. However, the above factors had an opportunity to play some role in increasing lifespan only in the last 2 centuries.
To date, there's only one species that has been called 'biologically immortal': the jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii. These small, transparent animals hang out in oceans around the world and can turn back time by reverting to an earlier stage of their life cycle.
Anything that tries to kill a tardigrade will quickly realize they encountered practically immortal animals. These creatures are capable of sticking around for thousands of years or even indefinitely “by entering a state of cryptobiosis, whereby their metabolism comes to a halt,” says Pastor.
In eastern California, a Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) known as Methuselah has long been considered Earth's oldest living thing. According to tree-ring data, Methuselah is 4,853 years old — meaning it was well established by the time ancient Egyptians built the pyramids at Giza.
It might be hard to imagine, but it's true: As of today, if you are 35 years old or younger it is quite probable you will live to the see the year 2100 and witness the beginning of the 22nd century. To have your life span over three different centuries?