Interesting Facts

The worlds oldest living animal, which lived to be 507 years old, was a clam. (He was called Ming. Now, why is this all in the past tense? Because, during a research expedition in 2006, marine scientists collected live specimens from the Icelandic shelf, and when they were frozen on board to take them home, they all died. They didn't find out how old Ming was until they were back in the lab and looked at its shell under a microscope. In the year Ming was born, Leonardo da Vinci was at work on the "Mona Lisa," the first recorded epidemic of smallpox hit the New World, and the Ming dynasty ruled China (hence the name). Ming was 52 years old when Queen Elizabeth I took the throne.)

Clams can grow old - very old. (Recently fishermen dredged up an ocean quahog clam off the coast of Iceland, scientists said the mollusc was aged between 405 and 410 years. It is thought to have been the longest-lived animal discovered and it could offer insights into the secrets of longevity. Of course it would have lived even longer if no one had dredged it up.)