Posted on 10/28/2007 10:25:37 AM PDT by blam
Ming the clam is 'oldest animal'
Shakespeare was writing plays when the clam was a juvenile
A clam dredged up off the coast of Iceland is thought to have been the longest-lived creature discovered. Scientists said the mollusc, an ocean quahog clam, was aged between 405 and 410 years and could offer insights into the secrets of longevity.
Researchers from Bangor University in Wales said they calculated the clam's age by counting rings on its shell.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the longest-lived animal was an Arctica clam found in 1982 aged 220.
They are like tiny tape-recorders... sitting on the sea-bed and integrating signals about water temperature and food over time
Unofficially, another clam - found in an Icelandic museum - was discovered to be 374-years-old, Bangor University said, making their clam at least 31 years older.
The clam, nicknamed Ming after the Chinese dynasty in power when it was born, was in its infancy when Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne. Shakespeare was writing plays such as Othello and Hamlet.
Professor Chris Richardson, from Bangor University's School of Ocean Sciences, told the BBC: "The growth-increments themselves provide a record of how the animal has varied in its growth-rate from year to year, and that varies according to climate, sea-water temperature and food supply.
"And so by looking at these molluscs we can reconstruct the environment the animals grew in. They are like tiny tape-recorders, in effect, sitting on the sea-bed and integrating signals about water temperature and food over time."
'Escaping' old age
Prof Richardson said the clam's discovery could help shed light on how some animals can live to extraordinary ages.
"What's intriguing the Bangor group is how these animals have actually managed, in effect, to escape senescence [growing old]," he said.
"One of reasons we think is that the animals have got some difference in cell turnover rates that we would associate with much shorter-lived animals."
He said the university had received money from the UK charity Help The Aged to help fund its research.
Well, at least he got his money’s worth out of Social Security.
So Ming is a $cientologist?
What did it taste like?
it’s about time clams started getting some long-overdue recognition.
Bangor ?.....you brought her !
Won’t be long before they start adding clam DNA to humans.
Which is why the new “Flash Gordon” sucks dingos’ kidneys.
I watched the premiere and that was it.
Poor little clam. squick squick squick < /obscure scientology reference>
In order to study the clam’s longevity, we had to kill it..
I can see it now..lol
Poor clam survived 400 years in a hostile ocean only to die at the hands of Scientific Curiosity...
hail ming...
...but they have to kill it to find these insights...
A better question may be how many bowls of clam chowder can it make?
So…the only thing left to figure out is how was Bush responsible and how much Halliburton profit from the clams death.
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'Clive of India's' tortoise dies
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A tortoise that once belonged to British colonial general Clive of India in the 18th Century has died in a zoo in Calcutta. Adwaita, "the only one" in Bengali, was found dead by keepers in Alipore Zoo on Wednesday. His shell cracked some months ago and a wound had developed. West Bengal officials said records showed Adwaita was at least 150 years old but other evidence pointed to 250. The shell of Adwaita, an Aldabra tortoise, will now be carbon-dated. Forestry minister in the West Bengal government, Jogesh Barman said: "Historical records show he was a pet of British general Robert Clive of the East India Company and had spent several years in his sprawling estate before he was brought to the zoo about 130 years ago." Mr Barman said Adwaita was probably brought from the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean and presented to Clive, an increasing force in the East India Company's military hierarchy. Shell preserved
Aldabra tortoises are found in the four-island Aldabra atoll of the Seychelles, a UN World Heritage Site that now has about 152,000 giant tortoises. They average about 120kg (265lbs) and are thought the longest-lived of all animals. The BBC's Amitabha Bhattasali in Calcutta says Adwaita brought in many of the zoo's visitors and when he fell sick for the first time eight years ago with a leg infection a full medical board was instigated to treat him. The director of the zoo, Subir Chowdhury, said Adwaita's shell would be preserved and kept there. One zookeeper told the Reuters news agency: "This is a sad day for us. We will miss him very much." Lord Clive, the son of a Shropshire squire, became a soldier and adventurer who rose through the East India Company. He won the key Battle of Plassey against the Nawab of Bengal in 1757. Lord Clive later became an opium addict and committed suicide in 1774 at the age of 49. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4837988.stm
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“Lord Clive later became an opium addict and committed suicide in 1774 at the age of 49.”
Probably sold to him by some Clinton relative and told to commit suicide or we will do it for you. Oh yeah, you can choose the method by which you want to expire.
You don’t become Emperor of Mongo by being a candy-ass. :-)
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