Clam is over 400 years old
Researchers found a clam off the coast of Iceland that's between 405 and 410 years old.
The mollusc, which is thought to have lurked beneath the waves until at least the age of 405, would have been a juvenile when Galileo picked up his first telescope, Hamlet was first staged and the gunpowder plot failed to blow up King James I.Scientists said it was a little tough, but "very tasty fried in butter and garlic." (Not really.) LinkThe Arctica islandica clam was plucked from 80m-deep water by researchers at Bangor University in Wales, who were dredging the north Iceland shelf for the creatures. By studying their shells, the scientists hope to learn how the marine environment has changed in recent centuries.
The clam was alive when it was brought to the surface, but at that point, the researchers had no idea how old it was. Only after cutting through the shell and counting annual growth rings under a microscope did they date the mollusc to between 405 to 410 years old.
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It always that fourth paragraph (missing from here, click on link for full story) that reveals the one thing I want to know:
"Its death is an unfortunate aspect of this work, but we hope to derive lots of information from it," said Al Wanamaker, a postdoctoral scientist on the university's Arctica team. "For our work it's a bonus, but it wasn't good for this particular animal."
Geez, the thing lives that long and science comes along and kills it. Not fair at all.
@#2:
Come now, what fun would science be if nobody got hurt?
John Platt, I'm sure they're sorry they killed it.
Agree with #4. If for no other reason, the profound nature of the creatures age would strike at your person. Both sad and amazing.
Well, they didn't know until after they'd dredged the thing up and opened it, which was probably a bit late.
Lots of old things in the sea...you can fish up lobsters over a century old, and that Patagonian Toothfish ("Chilean Seabass") fillet in the supermarket might be the same age.
As for the clams, people who know tell me they smell like rotten eggs because their metabolism is sulfur-based. So not very tasty.
That's it, I'm not eating any more Chilean Seabass. I'd already known they were being overfished, but I refuse to eat an animal that's twice my age.
You hear about that chicken with the IQ of 200 that could speak seven different languages?
That was one tasty chicken.
(Thank you, thank you ladies and gentlemen, I'll be here all week.)
@#8: *slap. slap. slap. slap. slap. Grabs your hand, cuts it off*
Anyways... At least the scientist recognized the loss that occurred...
I wonder how likely it is for a commercial clam in my grocery store to be past 100?
Ew, I just ended a performative sentence with a question mark! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Wait a sec, I did not have to state "I wonder" in order to wonder to myself how likely it is for a commercial clam in a grocery store to be past 100... Did I juse use the phrase "performative setence" incorrectly?
I phail at the English language.
I can has mouth feet?
Is no one interested in how big this thing was? The Guardian article doesn't say. I just think it's so crazy that these guys would have no other means of even guessing the age of the clam without opening it. Do they just stay the same size from, say, 200 - 400 yrs old?
TheMelonBread: Try decaf?