Random Animals Who Lived Way Longer Than the Rest of Their Species (21 items)

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  (#1) Ming the Clam

  Ming was the nickname given to a quahog clam dredged off the coast of Iceland in 2006. Its age was calculated by counting the annual growth lines on its shell. According to the lines and subsequent tests, Ming was 507 years old, which means this clam started doing its thing in 1499. Unfortunately, researchers accidentally killed the mollusk upon discovering it in 2006.
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  (#2) Adwaita the Aldabra Giant Tortoise

  Adwaita, a male giant tortoise, lived at the Alipore Zoological Gardens of Kolkata, India until his death in 2006 after he cracked his shell and got a liver infection. At the time of his death, he was believed to be 255 years old, making him the oldest terrestrial animal on record.
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  (#3) Hanako the Koi

  Koi live can live for a very long time, very occasionally managing to clear a century. Hanako here doubled down, however. This koi died at the age of 226 in 1977 and had the distinction of being the oldest fish ever recorded.
  
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  (#4) Tu'i Malila the Tortoise

  Tu'i Malila was a radiated tortoise said to have been given to the royal family of Tonga by Captain James Cook during his 18th century visit. There's debate about whether Tu'i Malila was male or female, but either way, this tortoise hatched around 1777 and died in 1965, making it 188 years old at the time of its death. Its body is preserved in the Tongan National Center on the island of Tongatapu. 
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  (#5) Jonathan the Seychelles Giant Tortoise

  At this point, you've probably picked up on the fact that tortoises can live a long, long time. Jonathan the Seychelles giant tortoise is different in that he is still alive and believed to be roughly 183 years old. He lives on the island of Saint Helena, where the five-pence coin has Jonathan's image on the reverse side.
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  (#6) George the Lobster

  George the lobster gained national attention when PETA discovered the 140-year-old lobster was on display as a mascot at the City Crab and Seafood restaurant in New York City. The restaurant agreed to release George into the wild, where lobster fishing is forbidden. Lobster aging is weirdly controversial, so whether George is the oldest out there is impossible to say, but 140 years is nothing to sneeze at.
  
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  (#7) Jeanne Calment the Human

  The oldest human whose age could be verified by official documents, Jeanne Calment was 122 years old when she died in 1997. Born around the time of Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, Calment got plenty of exercise riding her bike and playing tennis. She also smoked like a chimney right up until the last five years of her life.
  
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  (#8) Charlie the Blue-and-Yellow Macaw

  Charlie, a female blue-and-yellow macaw, reportedly hatched in 1899, making her 115 years old in 2015. She is said by some to have been the pet of Winston Churchill, although his daughter denies this claim. A foul-mouthed old bird, she's also known as "Charlie the Curser" for her anti-Nazi tirades.
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  (#9) Henry the Tuatara

  Tuataras are lizards that can live for over a century. Henry, a tuatara in the Southland Museum in New Zealand, mated for the first time at age 111 in 2009 with a spry 80-year-old female and fathered 11 baby tuatara. In addition to being a proud papa, Henry has rubbed elbows with royalty, as this picture of him with Prince Harry proves.
  
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  (#10) Lin Wang the Asian Elephant

  Lin Wang was an Asian elephant born in 1917 that served with the Chinese Expeditionary Force during the Second Sino-Japanese War. He was relocated to Taiwan and lived out the rest of his life at the Taipei Zoo, becoming the most famous animal in the country. Known affectionately by the nickname "Grandpa Lin Wang," this ancient elephant died in 2003 at the age of 86.
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  (#11) Greater the Flamingo

  The imaginatively named Greater the greater flamingo died at the Adelaide Zoo in Australia in 2014 and was at least 83 years old. It was never determined if Greater was a male or female, but either way, that's an impressive life span.
  
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  (#12) Muja the Alligator

  Muja is an American alligator at the Belgrade Zoo and, at over 80 years old, is thought to be the oldest alligator in the world. His actual age is a mystery, but he was already all grown up when he arrived at the Belgrade Zoo in 1936. He survived the destruction of most of the zoo in WWII, then also made it through the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999. In 2012, this tough old guy survived a partial amputation of one of his legs after he was diagnosed with gangrene.
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  (#13) Cookie the Cockatoo

  Cookie the Major Mitchell's cockatoo was born on June 30, 1933 and is believed to be the oldest cockatoo in the world. At 82, he is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest living parrot in the world. He currently resides at the Brookfield Zoo near Chicago, where the staff helps him cope with osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.
  
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  (#14) Thaao the Andean Condor

  Pronounced "Tay-oh," Thaao the Andean condor is thought to be the oldest condor ever in captivity. He died in Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo in 2010 at the age of 80. Condors usually don't live past 50 years old, but this guy, who was born the same year that Mickey Mouse debuted, managed to pack in three extra decades.
  
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  (#15) Wisdom the Albatross

  Wisdom, a female Laysan albatross, was born around 1951 and is listed as the oldest bird living in the wild. Wisdom is tagged, so we know that this wild bird has flown over three million miles since 1956. 
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  (#16) Ol' Billy the Horse

  On average, horses live for about 25 to 30 years, but Bill here was born in 1760 in London and died in 1822 at the ripe old age of 62, making him the oldest horse ever on record. His remains were split up, and his taxidermied head ended up on display at the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum. 
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  (#17) Debby the Polar Bear

  Debby the polar bear lived at the Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg, Canada. She was 42 years old when she was euthanized in 2008, making her not only the oldest polar bear on record, but one of the three oldest bears of all time.
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  (#18) Creme Puff the Cat

  Creme Puff lived in Austin, Texas and, at the time of her death in 2005, was 38 years old, getting her into the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest cat ever recorded. How did she more than double the average cat lifespan? Creme Puff lived on a diet of bacon, eggs, asparagus, and broccoli. Maybe Dr. Atkins was on to something?
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  (#19) Max the Dog

  Max, a dachshund, beagle, and terrier mix, lived for 29 years, making him the oldest dog who ever lived. In fact, when Max died in 2013, he was mere months away from becoming the first dog on the books to reach 30 years old. His owners had veterinary papers to prove that Max was born back in 1983, and the Guinness Book of World Records approved Max's claim to the oldest canine record just three days before his marathon life came to a quiet, dignified end.
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  (#20) Ernestine the Pig

  When the King family bought Ernestine, a Vietnamese potbellied pig, they were told she'd probably live for about 12 years. Instead, at 24, Ernestine is the oldest pig on record.
  
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  (#21) Yoda the Dwarf Mouse

  This dwarf mouse died in 2004, but at four years and 12 days old, he doubled the lifespan of the average lab mouse. That probably had something to do with the fact that Yoda was genetically modified by University of Michigan researchers studying longevity.
  

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