The Top Ten Longest Living Animals.

[Aquattro]

Plants are living things, rocks, not so much

[Seamazter]

So live rock is not alive rock.
heheh
ill change my title to include the word animals, to save confusion.

[Zoaelite]

I think Danny from Wais comes 5th on the list with an impressive age of around 175 years old. He even looks like the turtle .

[burgerchow]

who really knows how long they live. Mankind has only been keeping records for only a couple hundred years. I've seen sturgeons caught over 7 feet long, almost 1500 lbs. They said that one was probably over 200 years old. I'm sure there are even bigger ones that have never been caught yet. ( older means wiser I guess) How long does a shark live? ( given ideal ecological conditions) Sharks are the only animal that doesn't get cancer, so theoretically, shouldn't die of old age.

[muck]

Originally Posted by burgerchow

How long does a shark live? ( given ideal ecological conditions) Sharks are the only animal that doesn't get cancer, so theoretically, shouldn't die of old age.

This statement doesn't make any sense to me...

[Zoaelite]

Originally Posted by muck

This statement doesn't make any sense to me...

+1 , there are many things that can kill sharks besides old age.

Such as:
Bigger Sharks
Killer Whales
Indiscriminant long line fishing to make Shark fin soup

And the oldest trick in the book:
Compressed air canisters shot long range with riffles or cross bows.

[burgerchow]

Originally Posted by muck

This statement doesn't make any sense to me...

what I mean is that short of being caught by man or eaten by bigger animals, biologically, they should live for hundreds of years. Think about it, they don't even mature and are able to reproduce until they're in their teens. Basically Cancer is natures way of strengthening the species, allowing only the strong to survive. Most animals are susceptible to cancers, except sharks. That's why they're being hunted almost to extinction, cause man wants their cartilege and fins, because we believe it will make us healthier.

[kien]

Originally Posted by burgerchow

Most animals are susceptible to cancers, except sharks

Actually this is a misconception. There is no scientific evidence of this and thus remains unproven. Sharks may get cancer. My pet rock on the other hand has the immune system of a.. um.. rock!

[Zoaelite]

Originally Posted by burgerchow

what I mean is that short of being caught by man or eaten by bigger animals, biologically, they should live for hundreds of years. Think about it, they don't even mature and are able to reproduce until they're in their teens. Basically Cancer is natures way of strengthening the species, allowing only the strong to survive. Most animals are susceptible to cancers, except sharks. That's why they're being hunted almost to extinction, cause man wants their cartilege and fins, because we believe it will make us healthier.

Can you please enlighten my curious mind by amusing me and answering the following questions:

Humans don't mature or reproduce until our teens (At least I would hope ), so if the human race was impervious to cancer would we all live for ever?

If cancer is natures way of strengthening a species then why do perfectly healthy people die of it daily?

Businesses that sell shark cartilage as a cancer cure or preventive have claimed for years that sharks never get cancer. But scientists from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland and George Washington University in Washington, DC, have presented a detailed history of benign and malignant tumors found in sharks and related fishes. 2000 Charles W. Henderson

Do you personally believe it makes you healthier?

Will eating Donkey or Rat Penis make me more fertile?

[kien]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Plants are living things, rocks, not so much

Try telling that to my pet rock Johnny. I think he might be slightly offended.