A Greenland shark can live for up to 500 years, and over 2,000 years for the giant barrel sponge (xestospongia muta). But which animal on earth has the longest life span?
The seemingly immortal jellyfish is an example of a creature that is immune to death.
Adult forms of these tiny sea creatures, which have an average diameter of three millimeters, have a remarkable trick: when hurt or about to become hungry, they can turn back time biologically. This implies that they could theoretically live forever.
Turritopsis dohrnii, commonly recognized as the immortal jellyfish, is an intriguing organism that has drawn attention for its unusual capacity to seemingly avoid death altogether. Adult immortal jellyfish, which are only three millimeters in diameter on average, have the capacity to reset their biological clock in response to injury or anticipated food shortages.
The jellyfish can convert its adult cells into immature ones using an amazing process called transdifferentiation, basically going back to a younger stage of its life cycle.
Scientists and academics from all over the world are fascinated by the immortal jellyfish’s capacity to slow down the aging process and possibly achieve biological immortality. The ability of an organism to totally regress to a sexually immature colonial stage after reaching sexual maturity as a solitary individual is one of the few known instances in the animal kingdom.
This distinctive quality distinguishes the immortal jellyfish from other marine species and has sparked a plethora of research efforts to better understand its biology and possible uses in regenerative medicine.
The immortal jellyfish is a common species that can be found in temperate to tropical waters all over the world, while its exact population size is unknown. The ocean floor, marinas, and other coastal places are where it normally lives. These jellyfish are quite little, with a bell-shaped body and dimensions of about 4.5 mm (0.2 inches) in height and width.
The eternal jellyfish is just one of the intriguing and unusual creatures that live in the water, which is home to an astounding variety of varied species. The ocean is home to an estimated 1.5 million species, and its depths are home to innumerable marvels that have yet to be found.
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