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Thread: Who knew

  1. #1
    Join Date
    10-22-01
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    Who knew

    The Greenland Shark can live to 300-500 years---and does not reach puberty until the age of 150 years.

    Longevity
    The Greenland shark has the longest known lifespan of all vertebrate species.[30] One Greenland shark was tagged off the coast of Greenland in 1936 and recaptured in 1952. Its measurements suggest that Greenland sharks grow at a rate of 0.5–1 cm (0.2–0.4 in) per year.[31] In 2016, a study based on 28 specimens that ranged from 81 to 502 cm (2.7–16.5 ft) in length used radiocarbon dating of crystals within the lenses of their eyes to determine their approximate ages. The oldest of the animals sampled, which also was the largest, had lived for 392 ± 120 years and was consequently born between 1504 and 1744.n1 The authors further concluded that the species reaches sexual maturity at about 150 years of age.[30][32][33] Efforts to conserve Greenland sharks are particularly important due to their extreme longevity, long maturation periods, and the heightened sensitivity of large shark populations.[34]

    Reproduction
    As recently as 1957, females were found not to deposit eggs in the bottom mud, but retain the developing embryos within their bodies so they are born alive (a process known as ovoviviparity) after an estimated gestation period of 8-18 years.[17] About ten pups per litter is normal, each initially measuring some 38–42 cm (15–17 in) in length.[32][35] Within a Greenland Shark’s uterus, villi serve a key function in supplying oxygen to embryos. It is speculated that due to embryonic metabolism dealing with reproduction, this only allows for a limited litter size of around 10 pups.[36] It has been estimated that due to their extreme longevity, Greenland sharks can have 200 to 700 pups during their lifetime.[17]
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” ---Sir Winston Churchill
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  2. #2
    Join Date
    10-20-02
    Location
    16 miles west of the White House, Northern Virginia..
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    I can relate.. I’m on the same schedule for mental maturity.. I’ve always had mechanical abilities.. financial and scheduling abilities came along about 30.. have slowly developed general reasoning, I can now solve the problems of the world (still can’t implement the solutions).. I still need to develop my salesman abilities, so I can implement world solutions.. and I need a chit load of work learning to play well with others.. meanwhile, the physical vessel that provides a base of operations (my body) is way past its “best if used by” date..

    Just saw a picture of a tortoise from the 1880s.. he is still alive.. but they didn’t mention his sex life..

  3. #3
    Join Date
    10-30-01
    Location
    Salt Lake City
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    30,618
    Quote Originally Posted by Sandman View Post
    ...(my body) is way past its “best if used by” date...
    Yep - I'm there too.

    Hunter
    I don't care if it hurts. I want to have control. I want a perfect body. I want a perfect soul. - Creep by Radiohead

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