Ming, the 507-Year-Old Clam: How Scientists Discovered—and Accidentally Killed—the Oldest Known Animal

Only after they killed Ming the clam did they realize they had killed the oldest animal in recorded history..

We have already covered Jonathan, the oldest terrestrial animal, as well as a 400-year old Greenland shark — and now here is Ming, an ocean quahog, a species of clam known for its impressive lifespan. Or well… here was.

Scientists collecting samples off the coast of Iceland in 2006 were trying to reconstruct climate data from the past. Ocean quahogs clams are useful for that because their shells grow in layers, much like tree rings, and each layer records a year of the clam’s life as well as environmental conditions at the time.

When researchers pulled Ming from the seabed, it was just one of about 200 specimens they collected that day. They froze it on the ship, as they usually did to preserve the sample. Later, they cut open its shell to examine the internal growth rings more precisely. That’s when they began to realize they had something unusual on their hands.

At first, they estimated Ming’s age at around 405 years. That alone would have made it a record-holder. But years later, in 2013, after revisiting the shell using more refined methods, they counted 507 distinct annual growth layers. Ming had been alive since around 1499, during the Ming dynasty in China. That’s where the nickname came from.

To get an accurate count, scientists had to section the clam’s shell through the hinge area, which unfortunately meant killing the animal. This isn’t unusual; it’s the standard method used to age clams, since the internal bands near the hinge are the most reliable. While other parts of the shell also show annual growth, they can be harder to interpret, especially on older specimens where the bands are more compressed.

This led to a strange kind of scientific regret. The researchers hadn’t known they were ending the life of the longest-lived individual animal ever discovered.

Despite the unfortunate ending, Ming’s shell turned out to be a valuable scientific resource. Those 507 growth layers hold more than just an age count—they also contain a long-term environmental record. Scientists can analyze the chemical composition of each layer to learn about ocean temperatures, salinity, and other climate-related data going back centuries.

The quahog’s longevity is thought to come from a combination of factors: a very slow metabolism, low oxygen consumption, and good cellular repair mechanisms. These clams live buried in sediment on the ocean floor and grow slowly, making them particularly well-suited to stable, long lives. Some scientists study them not just for environmental data but also for clues about aging in general.

Ming’s story caught public attention in part because of the irony of its death. There was some criticism of the researchers, although others pointed out that this was part of routine data collection and that they had no way of knowing this particular clam would break all known records.

And while Ming is the oldest clam confirmed so far, others like it may still be alive in the ocean depths. It’s possible that an even older quahog is quietly living out its centuries somewhere off the coast of Iceland, completely unaware of the one that came before it—and the attention it accidentally received after death.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5