World's oldest creature is revealed to be 507-year-old shellfish called Ming – until scientists KILLED it by opening it up to check its age

Scientists initially thought the clam, named Ming, was 405 years old



Mistake was made as scientists couldn't clearly see Ming's growth rings

Researchers claim the creature could help unlock the secrets to a long life



It had already been confirmed as the oldest animal that ever lived.



But scientists who accidentally killed Ming the Mollusc, a deep sea clam dredged from the North Atlantic, have now discovered it was 100 years older than previously thought.



Following painstaking analysis, experts from Bangor University reckon the animal was born in 1499, making it 507 when it was found.



This is the only picture of Ming, believed to be the world's oldest animal at 507 years old. Not knowing the long life of the mollusc, researchers at Bangor University opened its shell for analysis, killing Ming in the process

Ming's life came to an abrupt end seven years ago when scientists from Bangor University dredged the seabed near Iceland (pictured) as part of a study into climate change

The ocean quahog was discovered off the coast of Iceland in 2006.

Unaware of its age, scientists placed it in a freezer before opening and killing it by mistake.

A quahog’s shell grows a layer every summer when the water is warmer and food plentiful.

By counting the number of rings visible on the inside of Ming’s shell, scientists initially thought it was around 400 years old.

By counting the number of rings visible on the outer shell of the mollusc, researchers calculated that Ming was an incredible 507 years old

However, after analysing the clam more closely, the experts now believe Ming, who was named after the dynasty thought to be ruling China at the time of its birth, was a century older.



‘We got it wrong the first time and maybe we were a bit hasty publishing our findings back then,’ Paul Butler, from Bangor University, told ScienceNordic.



The findings mean the mollusc was born seven years after Columbus discovered America.



It lay on the ocean floor throughout historical milestones such as the English Civil War, the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution and two world wars.