Longevity Facts

The oldest known individual animal was 'Ming' the ocean quahog clam, who lived for 507 years before being discovered off the coast of Iceland in 2006.

If you're over 100 years old, there's an 80% chance you're a woman.

Turtles can live for more than 100 years.

There is a giant mushroom in Oregon that is over 2,400 years old, covers 3.4 square miles of land, and is still growing!

The average person walks the equivalent of twice around the world in a lifetime

Coins usually survive in circulation for about 30 years.

A 1998 Harvard study of nearly 8,000 men found that those who ate chocolate 1-3 times per month lived almost a year longer than those who never ate it, likely due to antioxidant compounds called flavonoids.

Japan's Okinawa Island has more than 450 people living above the age of 100, and is known as the healthiest place on Earth.

There are still 5 people living who were born in the 1800s - and they're all women.

Only about 1 person in 2 billion will live to be 116 years old, making it one of the rarest feats of human longevity.

An olive tree can live up to 1,500 years!

In ancient Egypt, life expectancy at birth was around 30 years—but this statistic is misleading. High infant and childhood mortality rates dragged down the average. Egyptians who survived to adulthood commonly lived into their 50s, 60s, or even 70s.

In just about every species of mammal, the female lives longer than the male.

Hermit crabs can live over 30 years in the wild—far longer than most people realize, especially compared to the few months they typically survive as pets.

Li Ching-Yuen was a Chinese herbalist who became famous for claims he lived to be 256 years old (1677-1933). While his extreme longevity is almost certainly legend, he was a real person who became a celebrity in 1920s China, with newspapers reporting the Qing government had congratulated him on his 150th and 200th birthdays.

There is a genetic disease called Laron syndrome that results in short stature, longer life expectancy, and near immunity to cancer and diabetes - amongst other things.

A study conducted by the University of Hawaii revealed that shorter men live longer lives.

A tortoise named Adwaita lived to approximately 250 years old. To put it into perspective, he was likely born before the United States declared independence, and his death was announced on CNN in 2006.

A koi fish named Hanako lived to be 226 years old, making her the oldest koi ever documented. Her age was scientifically verified in 1966 by examining growth rings on her scales, and she died in Japan on July 7, 1977.

Japan has over 21,000 businesses that are more than 100 years old, more than any other country. Among them is Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan, a hot spring hotel founded in 705 AD that holds the Guinness World Record for the oldest hotel in the world.

Raymond Hager is 95 years old. For almost 30 years, he has driven a school bus for Wichita Falls, Texas. His boss once tried cutting him back to one day a week. Hager refused to slow down. In 2025, Guinness World Records named him the world's oldest active male bus driver. The mayor declared Hager's birthday, November 18, Raymond Hager Day. He still says one day a week just isn't enough.

Wisdom the Laysan albatross was banded at Midway Atoll in 1956 - already an adult. She is now at least 74 years old, the oldest known wild bird on Earth, and she laid an egg and hatched a chick in early 2025. Biologists estimate she has fledged around 30 chicks in her lifetime. The scientist who banded her, Chandler Robbins, died in 2017 at age 98. She is still going.

Methuselah, an Australian lungfish at San Francisco's Steinhart Aquarium, has lived in the same tank since November 1938 - before World War II began. DNA analysis in 2023 estimated her age at between 92 and 101 years old, making her the oldest living aquarium fish in the world. She still gets belly rubs from her keepers and her favorite treat is fresh figs.