Greenland sharks are currently regarded as the longest-lived known vertebrates. A 2016 study estimated that the largest shark it sampled was 392 ± 120 years old, using radiocarbon dating of eye-lens nuclei. That is an estimate with a very wide uncertainty range, not a precisely measured age or the typical lifespan of every Greenland shark. The same study placed the species’ minimum lifespan at 272 years. For context, NOAA says bowhead whales may live more than 200 years, while older animals such as ocean quahogs and some corals are invertebrates rather than vertebrate competitors.
What the Greenland shark’s age record actually says
The Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) holds the leading vertebrate longevity estimate because the best available evidence extends far beyond the documented lifespans of other vertebrates. The landmark study by Nielsen and colleagues, published in Science in 2016, examined 28 female sharks ranging from 81 to 502 centimetres in total length. The largest sampled shark, measuring 502 centimetres, produced an estimated age of 392 ± 120 years.
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That notation matters. The central estimate is 392 years, but the stated uncertainty spans roughly 272 to 512 years. The result does not mean scientists know that individual shark’s age to the exact year, nor that 392 years is the species average. In the study’s abstract, the researchers described the Greenland shark’s lifespan as at least 272 years. NOAA summarizes the estimated range as approximately 272 to 512 years on its explainer, How long do Greenland sharks live?
The original authors concluded that the Greenland shark was the longest-lived known vertebrate and warned that such extreme longevity has conservation consequences. That conclusion remains the standard scientific description, but Canada’s 2025 Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) emphasizes that the age estimates are uncertain and have not been independently validated with a viable alternative method.
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In practical terms, the defensible statement is: Greenland sharks have the highest published maximum-age estimate for a vertebrate, but the exact age of any one shark and the species’ normal lifespan remain uncertain.
How scientists estimated the sharks’ ages
Radiocarbon in eye-lens nuclei
Greenland sharks cannot be aged reliably by counting annual growth rings in their vertebrae or other hard parts. Instead, the 2016 study used radiocarbon dating of the nuclei in the sharks’ eye lenses. These nuclei form early in life and retain chemical information that can be compared with changes in atmospheric radiocarbon over time. Because the lens nucleus is metabolically stable, it can preserve a signal from the period when the tissue formed.
The method gives an age estimate rather than a calendar birth date. The researchers analyzed the radiocarbon signal in the lenses of 28 female sharks and related the results to body length. The largest animal yielded the 392-year central estimate, while the study’s lower lifespan bound was 272 years. The method is fundamentally different from counting annual bands, and its uncertainty is correspondingly important when comparing it with records obtained by other techniques.
Why the uncertainty is unusually broad
COSEWIC’s 2025 Greenland Shark status report notes that deep-ocean radiocarbon dynamics are not fully resolved and that no practical alternative aging method is currently available. Those limitations make it difficult to tighten the confidence interval or independently confirm the result. NOAA also cautions that “Carbon dating can only provide estimates, not a definitive age” on its Greenland shark explainer.
The 392-year figure should therefore be presented with its uncertainty every time. Calling it an exact age, a guaranteed maximum, or a typical lifespan overstates what the evidence establishes. The 2026 Greenland shark genome paper in PNAS repeats 392 ± 120 years as the existing estimate; it does not supply a new age-validation result. Its longevity discussion is relevant to biological hypotheses, not a replacement measurement.
Why body length cannot be converted directly into age
Researchers used body length alongside lens radiocarbon values to model age, but length is not a built-in clock. Growth can vary with sex, food availability, temperature and local conditions. Consequently, a 400-centimetre shark is not automatically a particular age, and the maturity lengths reported by COSEWIC should not be treated as birthdays. The length-to-age relationship is useful for a population model while still carrying uncertainty for every individual.
Greenland sharks and other exceptionally long-lived animals
The comparison below keeps four distinctions visible: vertebrate versus invertebrate, an estimated maximum versus a broad possible lifespan, the measurement method, and whether the figure applies to an individual animal or a colony.
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| Animal | Taxonomic status | Longevity figure | What the number represents | Evidence and qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenland shark | Vertebrate fish | 392 ± 120 years for the largest sampled shark; lifespan at least 272 years | Radiocarbon-based estimate for one 502-centimetre female in a 2016 sample | Eye-lens nuclei radiocarbon dating; broad uncertainty and no validated alternative method |
| Bowhead whale | Vertebrate mammal | More than 200 years possible | NOAA’s broad possible lifespan for the longest-lived marine mammal | Not a method-matched interval to the Greenland shark estimate |
| Ocean quahog | Invertebrate bivalve | About 500 years | Reported lifespan for a clam, not a vertebrate | Useful as a general longevity contrast, but not a direct competitor to the shark’s vertebrate record |
| Deep-sea corals | Invertebrates; many are colonies | More than 4,000 years reported for living corals | Age estimates can refer to a colony rather than one genetically distinct animal | NOAA notes that many corals consist of numerous polyps; colony age is not equivalent to the age of a single vertebrate |
The figures for bowheads, quahogs and corals come from NOAA Ocean Service’s What is the longest-lived marine mammal? NOAA’s page was updated in 2026. The values are useful context, but they were not generated by a single standardized test, so they should not be assembled into a definitive ranking that ignores taxonomy and measurement differences.
Greenland sharks versus bowhead whales
Why the bowhead is the closest vertebrate comparison
Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) are the most relevant comparison because they are both marine vertebrates with exceptionally long estimated lifespans. NOAA describes the bowhead as the longest-lived marine mammal and says it may live more than 200 years. That statement is a broad possible lifespan, whereas the Greenland shark value is a radiocarbon estimate with an explicit ±120-year interval.
The two claims therefore answer slightly different questions. The Greenland estimate is tied to the largest animal in a defined 2016 sample. The bowhead figure expresses a possible lifespan for the species, not a matching age interval for a particular whale measured by the same protocol. A shark’s central estimate of 392 years is higher than 200 years, but the evidence does not justify treating the numbers as equally precise measurements or calculating a precise age difference between the species.
What “longest-lived vertebrate” means here
Within the published evidence, no other vertebrate has a higher, comparably documented maximum-age estimate than the Greenland shark. Bowheads are the nearest rival in ordinary discussion, but NOAA’s “200-plus” wording is less specific than the shark study’s interval. The careful conclusion is that Greenland sharks are currently regarded as the longest-lived known vertebrates, while acknowledging that their record rests on an uncertain estimate rather than a directly observed 400-year life.
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Why quahogs and corals do not displace the shark’s vertebrate record
Ocean quahogs
Ocean quahogs are clams, so they are molluscan invertebrates. NOAA gives their lifespan as about 500 years, a number that exceeds the Greenland shark’s 392-year central estimate. That does not make the quahog the longest-lived vertebrate: it belongs to a different branch of the animal kingdom. It is best used to show that extreme longevity has evolved outside vertebrates as well.
Deep-sea corals
NOAA reports ages of more than 4,000 years for living deep-sea corals. Corals are also invertebrates, and many coral structures are colonies of individual polyps. A colony can persist through growth and replacement of its component organisms, so its age is not directly equivalent to the lifespan of one shark, whale or other individual vertebrate. The coral figure is therefore a longevity record of a different biological kind.
These distinctions prevent a misleading “oldest animal” list. Before comparing any age, ask whether the subject is a vertebrate, whether the number describes one individual or a colony, and whether it is a measured age, a modeled estimate, or a broad possible maximum.
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When Greenland sharks reach maturity
Age-based maturity estimate
The 2016 radiocarbon study estimated sexual maturity at 156 ± 22 years. This is an age estimate derived within the same uncertain framework as the longevity result, not an observation that every shark begins reproducing at exactly 156 years. The interval indicates substantial uncertainty around the central value.
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COSEWIC’s 2025 report separately gives body-length estimates for maturity: 419 ± 4 centimetres for females and 284 ± 6 centimetres for males. These are measurements expressed in length, not age. A shark can reach a particular size at different ages depending on growth conditions, sex and environment, so size at maturity should not be substituted for the 156 ± 22-year age estimate.
Keeping the two measures separate clarifies why Greenland sharks are considered exceptionally vulnerable to rapid population loss. A species that may take well over a century to mature has fewer opportunities to replace animals removed by fishing, bycatch or other mortality than a species that reproduces after only a few years.
Generation time and conservation implications
COSEWIC estimates Greenland shark generation time at 63 to more than 200 years, with a likely range of 150 to 200 years under current estimates. Generation time is a population measure tied to reproduction and replacement, not simply the age of the oldest individual. The broad range reflects the same underlying uncertainty about growth, maturity and longevity.
COSEWIC identifies slow growth, late maturity and long generation length as limiting factors. It also reports that population size and trends are unknown because available estimates are highly uncertain. “Unknown” does not mean stable; it means that the available information cannot support a reliable direction or numerical trend.
Long generation times change the timescale of conservation. A short-lived fishery species may show recruitment responses within a few seasons, whereas a Greenland shark population could take many decades to reveal the demographic effects of removing mature animals. Management decisions consequently have to account for uncertainty and for the possibility that recovery, if needed, would be measured in generations rather than years.
Why uncertainty matters for management
When age structure is poorly known, managers cannot safely assume that a population contains enough mature breeders to absorb additional losses. An uncertain estimate should prompt caution rather than optimism: the shark could be somewhat younger or older than the central figure, but either interpretation still implies unusually slow replacement compared with most commercially fished species. Monitoring, bycatch reduction and better demographic data are therefore important even without a perfectly resolved census.
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What the 2026 genome study adds—and what it does not
The 2026 PNAS paper, The Greenland shark genome: Insights into lifespan extremes and population dynamics, discusses candidate biological features that might help explain the species’ extreme longevity. The areas highlighted include immune function, cancer resistance, DNA repair and H1.0-associated chromatin stability.
These are research hypotheses and possible mechanisms, not proven causes of a 400-year lifespan. The genome paper reiterates the 392 ± 120-year estimate; it does not independently validate the shark’s age or establish that any single gene or pathway determines longevity. Likewise, cold water and slow metabolism are often mentioned as contextual features of Greenland shark biology, but the cited sources do not prove either factor is the cause of the species’ lifespan.
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Headlines often collapse several different comparisons into one ranking. A more reliable approach is to check each claim against four questions:
- What is being compared? Confirm that all candidates are vertebrates if the question is about the longest-lived vertebrate.
- Is the number a maximum, a typical age or a possible lifespan? The shark’s 392 years is an estimate for the largest sampled individual, not an average.
- How was age determined? Radiocarbon dating, growth rings, historical observation and colony dating carry different uncertainties.
- Is the subject one individual? Coral colonies can be thousands of years old without one single polyp living for the entire period.
Applied consistently, this framework supports the current conclusion without pretending that all longevity numbers have the same precision. Greenland sharks lead the vertebrate comparison on the available evidence; bowhead whales provide the closest marine-mammal context; quahogs and corals demonstrate that some invertebrate lifespans can be longer still, but they answer a different taxonomic question.
Common wording mistakes to avoid
Several shortcuts make otherwise accurate explanations misleading. “Greenland sharks live 400 years” drops both the uncertainty and the fact that the estimate concerns the largest sampled animal. “The oldest animal is a coral” may describe a colony rather than an individual and ignores the vertebrate qualifier. “Bowheads live exactly 200 years” turns NOAA’s “more than 200 years” possibility into a fixed limit. Finally, saying that the genome study proved why the shark lives so long confuses candidate mechanisms with demonstrated causes.
A precise sentence can remain readable: the 2016 study estimated 392 ± 120 years for a 502-centimetre female, with a lower bound of 272 years; NOAA describes bowheads as potentially exceeding 200 years; and COSEWIC’s 2025 assessment says the shark estimate remains uncertain and lacks an independent validation method.
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| Figure | Date and source | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 392 ± 120 years | Nielsen and colleagues, Science, 2016 | Estimated age of the largest sampled Greenland shark, a 502-centimetre female |
| At least 272 years | Nielsen and colleagues, Science, 2016 | Lower lifespan estimate stated in the study abstract |
| 156 ± 22 years | Nielsen and colleagues, Science, 2016 | Estimated age at sexual maturity |
| 200-plus years | NOAA Ocean Service, page updated 2026 | Possible lifespan of a bowhead whale |
| About 500 years | NOAA Ocean Service, page updated 2026 | Lifespan reported for the ocean quahog, an invertebrate |
| More than 4,000 years | NOAA Ocean Service, page updated 2026 | Ages reported for living deep-sea corals; many are colonies |
| 63 to over 200 years; likely 150–200 | COSEWIC, 2025 | Estimated Greenland shark generation time, not the age of an individual |
Primary sources
- Eye lens radiocarbon reveals centuries of longevity in the Greenland shark, the 2016 study abstract indexed by PubMed.
- Greenland Shark status report, COSEWIC assessment published in 2025.
- What is the longest-lived marine mammal?, NOAA Ocean Service.
- How long do Greenland sharks live?, NOAA Ocean Service.
- The Greenland shark genome: Insights into lifespan extremes and population dynamics, PNAS, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do Greenland sharks live?
The best published estimate is at least 272 years, with 392 ± 120 years estimated for the largest shark in the 2016 sample. The interval is broad, so it should not be presented as an exact or typical lifespan.
Are Greenland sharks the longest-lived vertebrates?
They are currently regarded as the longest-lived known vertebrates because their published maximum-age estimate exceeds comparable estimates for other vertebrates. COSEWIC reported in 2025 that the estimate remains uncertain and has not been independently validated by another viable aging method.
What animal lives longer than a Greenland shark?
NOAA reports ocean quahogs at about 500 years and some deep-sea corals at more than 4,000 years, but both are invertebrates. Many corals are colonies, so these are not like-for-like comparisons with one vertebrate animal.
How was the Greenland shark’s age measured?
Nielsen and colleagues used radiocarbon dating of eye-lens nuclei, tissue that forms early and remains chemically stable. The approach produces an estimate rather than a precisely observed birth date.
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Do Greenland sharks mature at 156 years?
The 2016 study estimated sexual maturity at 156 ± 22 years. That is an uncertain age-based estimate. COSEWIC separately reported maturity lengths of 419 ± 4 centimetres for females and 284 ± 6 centimetres for males; length and age should not be conflated.
Why is the shark’s longevity important for conservation?
Late maturity, slow growth and a generation time likely around 150–200 years mean lost adults may be replaced very slowly. COSEWIC says population size and trends remain unknown, so uncertainty is not evidence that populations are stable.
The Bottom Line
Greenland sharks have the strongest current claim to the vertebrate longevity record: a 2016 radiocarbon study estimated 392 ± 120 years for the largest sampled female and at least 272 years for the species’ lifespan. Bowhead whales are the closest vertebrate comparison at more than 200 possible years, while quahogs and corals can be older but are invertebrates, often including colonial organisms. The record is scientifically important—and still an estimate that needs careful qualification.
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