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| Ming the clam is 'oldest animal' | Ming the clam is 'oldest animal' |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| A clam dredged up off the coast of Iceland is thought to have been the longest-lived animal discovered. | |
| Scientists said the mollusc, an ocean quahog clam, was aged between 405 and 410 years and could offer insights into the secrets of longevity. | Scientists said the mollusc, an ocean quahog clam, was aged between 405 and 410 years and could offer insights into the secrets of longevity. |
| Researchers from Bangor University in north Wales said they calculated its age by counting rings on its shell. | Researchers from Bangor University in north Wales said they calculated its age by counting rings on its shell. |
| According to the Guinness Book of Records, the longest-lived animal was a clam found in 1982 aged 220. | |
| They are like tiny tape-recorders... sitting on the sea-bed and integrating signals about water temperature and food over time Professor Chris RichardsonBangor University Unofficially, another clam - found in an Icelandic museum - was discovered to be 374-years-old, Bangor University said, making their clam at least 31 years older. | They are like tiny tape-recorders... sitting on the sea-bed and integrating signals about water temperature and food over time Professor Chris RichardsonBangor University Unofficially, another clam - found in an Icelandic museum - was discovered to be 374-years-old, Bangor University said, making their clam at least 31 years older. |
| The clam, nicknamed Ming after the Chinese dynasty in power when it was born, was in its infancy when Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne and Shakespeare was writing plays such as Othello and Hamlet. | The clam, nicknamed Ming after the Chinese dynasty in power when it was born, was in its infancy when Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne and Shakespeare was writing plays such as Othello and Hamlet. |
| Professor Chris Richardson, from Bangor University's School of Ocean Sciences, told the BBC: "The growth-increments themselves provide a record of how the animal has varied in its growth-rate from year to year, and that varies according to climate, sea-water temperature and food supply. | Professor Chris Richardson, from Bangor University's School of Ocean Sciences, told the BBC: "The growth-increments themselves provide a record of how the animal has varied in its growth-rate from year to year, and that varies according to climate, sea-water temperature and food supply. |
| "And so by looking at these molluscs we can reconstruct the environment the animals grew in. They are like tiny tape-recorders, in effect, sitting on the sea-bed and integrating signals about water temperature and food over time." | "And so by looking at these molluscs we can reconstruct the environment the animals grew in. They are like tiny tape-recorders, in effect, sitting on the sea-bed and integrating signals about water temperature and food over time." |
| 'Escaping' old age | 'Escaping' old age |
| Prof Richardson said the clam's discovery could help shed light on how some animals can live to extraordinary ages. | Prof Richardson said the clam's discovery could help shed light on how some animals can live to extraordinary ages. |
| "What's intriguing the Bangor group is how these animals have actually managed, in effect, to escape senescence [growing old]," he said. | "What's intriguing the Bangor group is how these animals have actually managed, in effect, to escape senescence [growing old]," he said. |
| "One of the reasons we think is that the animals have got some difference in cell turnover rates that we would associate with much shorter-lived animals." | "One of the reasons we think is that the animals have got some difference in cell turnover rates that we would associate with much shorter-lived animals." |
| He said the university had received money from the UK charity Help The Aged to help fund its research. | He said the university had received money from the UK charity Help The Aged to help fund its research. |