Current:Home > Contact-usMeet Methuselah: The world's oldest known aquarium fish is at least 92, DNA shows-LoTradeCoin
Meet Methuselah: The world's oldest known aquarium fish is at least 92, DNA shows
View Date:2024-12-23 20:51:02
This scaly world-record breaker looks much younger than she is. Or so scientists say.
The approximate age of the oldest-known aquarium fish housed at a San Francisco Bay Area aquarium for the past 85 years is now known, the California Academy of Sciences announced Monday.
Methuselah, a female Australian lungfish tanked at the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, is at least 92 years old, the academy said in a press release.
"Cutting-edge DNA analysis" estimated Methuselah’s age to be nine years older than her previously estimated age of 84. The analysis was led by doctors Ben Mayne of Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research, an Australian-based government agency, and David Roberts of Seqwater, also based in Australia.
A helicopter and a fairy godmother:Inside Broadway understudy's wild race from JFK to Aladdin stage
New non-fatal testing
The 4-foot long, 40-pound Methuselah, named after the oldest person mentioned in the Bible, first arrived at the aquarium via a Matson Navigation Company shipping liner in 1938, the academy said.
“There was no method for determining her age at that time, so it’s incredibly exciting to get science-based information on her actual age,” Charles Delbeek, the aquarium's curator of aquarium projects, said in a statement. “Methuselah is an important ambassador for her species, helping to educate and stoke curiosity in visitors from all over the world."
Estimating ages for old and ancient fish can be challenging and usually requires invasive or lethal aging methods, including examining ear bones or removing its scales, researchers said.
The new method used to calculate Methuselah's age, the academy said, involved a small tissue sample from a fin without harming the fish.
“For the first time since the Australian lungfish’s discovery in 1870, the DNA age clock we developed offers the ability to predict the maximum age of the species,” Mayne said. “Knowing the ages of fish in a population, including the maximum age, is vital for their management. This tells us just how long a species can survive and reproduce in the wild, which is critical for modeling population viability and reproductive potential."
Another study
Another study led by Mayne and Roberts also sampled 30 other lungfish from six other institutions across the U.S. and Australia "to create a catalog of living lungfish in an effort to advance the accuracy of the previously developed DNA-based age clock for the species."
Included in the catalog are the Steinhart Aquarium's two other lungfish, which are 50 and 54 years old.
Fatal Kentucky bee attack:Swarm of bees in potting soil attack, kill 59-year-old Kentucky man, coroner says
Methuselah may even be older
According to Roberts, Methuselah's age prediction may be further trimmed down as time passes.
“By aging living lungfish from across the world we are creating a library of living lungfish that will enable Dr. Mayne and other researchers ... to continually recalibrate the aging clock as new and older aged samples of lungfish become available," Roberts said.
"This means her actual age could conceivably be over 100, placing her in the rare club of fish centenarians," he said. "While her age prediction will improve over time, she will always live beyond the calibrated age clock, as no other lungfish we know is older than Methuselah."
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior correspondent for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @nataliealund.
veryGood! (5615)
Related
- Brittany Cartwright Defends Hooking Up With Jax Taylor's Friend Amid Their Divorce
- Civil Rights Movement Freedom Riders urge younger activists to get out the vote
- Green Day setlist: All the Saviors Tour songs
- Olympic gymnastics live updates: Simone Biles, USA win gold medal in team final
- Auburn surges, while Kansas remains No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports men's basketball poll
- 20 Best Amazon Dresses Under $40 That Shoppers Are Raving About
- Simone Biles' Husband Jonathan Owens Supports Her at 2024 Olympic Finals Amid NFL Break
- Paris Olympics highlights: Simone Biles and Co. win gold; USA men's soccer advances
- Some women are stockpiling Plan B and abortion pills. Here's what experts have to say.
- North Carolina governor says Harris ‘has a lot of great options’ for running mate
Ranking
- Song Jae-lim, Moon Embracing the Sun Actor, Dead at 39
- Meyerbeer’s ‘Le Prophète’ from 1849 sounds like it’s ripped-from-the-headlines at Bard SummerScape
- How Rugby Star Ilona Maher Became a Body Positivity Queen at the Olympics
- Court holds up Biden administration rule on airline fees while the carriers sue to kill it
- In bizarro world, Tennessee plays better defense, and Georgia's Kirby Smart comes unglued
- Canada loses its appeal against a points deduction for drone spying in Olympic women’s soccer
- Snoop Dogg's winning NBC Olympics commentary is pure gold
- 'Absolutely incredible:' Kaylee McKeown, Regan Smith put on show in backstroke final
Recommendation
-
Get Your Home Holiday-Ready & Decluttered With These Storage Solutions Starting at $14
-
Paychecks grew more slowly this spring, a sign inflation may keep cooling
-
Delaney Schnell, Jess Parratto fail to add medals while Chinese diving stars shine
-
NYC Mayor Eric Adams defends top advisor accused of sexual harassment
-
Police identify 7-year-old child killed in North Carolina weekend shooting
-
USA soccer advances to Olympics knockout round for first time since 2000. How it happened
-
Harris gives Democrats a jolt in a critical part of swing-state Wisconsin
-
How do I connect with co-workers in virtual work world? Ask HR