What animal has the longest average life span and what animal holds the record life span?
Like aging divas, animals aren’t exactly up-front about their birthdays. Researchers estimate their age by counting growth rings on shells or marking part of an animal and checking back every year. The resulting life spans are only educated guesses, but we turned up a few candidates for most candles on the birthday cake. The oldest animal on the planet may be the deep-sea tubeworm Lamellibrachia, found in the Gulf of Mexico. These skinny tubes live in colonies, and each creature can live around 170 to 250 years. Another long-lifer is the ocean quahog Arctica islandica (a type of clam). According to radiometric dating, one specimen was
