There are almost a million species are present on this Earth. There may be an
The amount of time any animal lives depends upon its biological clock or the metabolism rate. The slower the metabolism rate is, the higher the life cycle goes. Take plants for example. Some plants can live over 1000 years!
But what about animals? Which animal has the longest lifespan in the world?
The answer lies in the deepest portion of the sea. The Humpback whale can live for almost 200 years, while the Bowhead whale can do it for 250 years.
Even there are Atlantic sponges that can go on 15,000 years.
The reason Atlantic Sponge can sustain that long is its extremely slow metabolism rate thanks to extreme cold and dark waters in the deeps.
But what if I tell you there is a superior species when the lifespan is in question. Yes, there is. For this animal, 'age' doesn't hold a dime. This animal belongs to the elusive cadre of the 'Undying' or 'Immortal'.
This 'legendary' animal is the Turritopsis dohrnii or the Immortal Jellyfish. This fish lives in tropical waters around the world. This jellyfish reproduces just like any other mammal does - sperm and eggs. But recent research in 1993 has shown that at the time of deprivation, physical harm, or at the time of need, "instead of sure death, this species tends to transform all of its existing cells into a younger state," - making them biologically 'Immortal'.
As the research further showcases, the jellyfish turns itself into a bloblike cyst, which then develops into a polyp colony, essentially the first stage in jellyfish life.
But the most amazing fact about this polyp colony is that it can asexually reproduce hundreds of clones of the original one, kind of like the nine-headed Lernaean Hydra, that mythological legend Hercules once slew.
