[ExI] Maximum biological lifespan

[BillK]

On 12 August 2016 at 07:54, Anders Sandberg  wrote:
> Given how evolution works, multicellular organisms are likely but not
> guaranteed to age - once they have reproduced their importance to the
> eventual success to their genotype goes down drastically, so evolution does
> not prevent accumulation of mutations that mess them up later (=ageing). But
> as demonstrated by lobsters and some other organisms (sturgeon?) there is no
> reason why ageing might not occasionally fail to develop. Of course, the
> actual lifespan of non-ageing organisms is often more dominated by being
> killed by predators, accidents and disease: getting old enough to age
> significantly is a rare occurrence in nature.
>
> So, no, there is no inherent maximum beyond the survival of the ecological
> niche the being lives in.
>


By Coincidence -

Greenland Sharks Are the Longest-Living Vertebrates
10 August 2016

<http://www.aaas.org/news/greenland-sharks-are-longest-living-vertebrates>

Quotes:

Greenland sharks enjoy the longest lives of vertebrates on Earth, a
new study reports. The results, published in the 12 August issue of
Science, suggest the sharks can live for nearly three hundred years,
and they reach sexual maturity at 150 years old.
---------

The previous record holder for the longest-living vertebrate was an
Aldabra giant tortoise named Adwaita, estimated to have lived until
the ripe age of 255. In the oceans, the bowhead whale is estimated to
live about 211 years. Among invertebrates, the ocean quahog Arctica
islandica, a North Atlantic clam, may live as long as 507 years.
-------


So long life seems to be linked to slow growth.

BillK