Which animal species holds the record for the oldest known individual?

Which animal species holds the record for the oldest known individual? The ocean quahog holds it, through a clam called Ming that lived for about 507 years.

Ming was an ocean quahog, Arctica islandica, dredged from the seabed off Iceland in 2006. Scientists counted annual growth bands in its shell to estimate its age. The clam was initially reported as 405 years old, but later examination produced the revised figure of 507.

This record refers to the oldest precisely aged individual non-clonal animal discovered, not necessarily the oldest animal that has ever lived. Some colonial organisms, such as certain corals and sponges, can persist for far longer, but they are colonies rather than single individuals. Greenland sharks and bowhead whales are also exceptionally long-lived, yet their verified lifespans do not match Ming’s age.

The clam is also known as Hafrún, a name given by the Icelandic researchers who found it. “Ming” was a media nickname referring to China’s Ming dynasty, which was ruling when the clam was born.