Okay, this is cool...

From the LA Times:

In the frigid waters of the sub-Arctic ocean lurks a mysterious and slow-moving beast known as the Greenland shark. It's a massive animal that can grow up to 20 feet in length. Now, new research suggests it may have a massive lifespan as well. 

According to a paper published Thursday in Science, the Greenland shark could live for well over 250 years, making it the longest-living known vertebrate on Earth.

"I am 95% certain that the oldest of these sharks is between 272 and 512 years old," said lead author Julius Nielsen, a marine biologist at the University of Copenhagen. "That's a big range, but even the age estimate of at least 272 years makes it the oldest vertebrate animal in the world."

The oldest animal record holder is a clam called Ming that was dredged up from the ocean floor off the coast of Iceland. It was said to be 507 years old when it died in 2006, but there are other animals that have been known to live for more than a century.

Shortraker rockfish from off the Alaskan coast and orange roughy off Namibia are both estimated to live up to 200 years or longer. Harriet, a Galapagos tortoise from the Australia Zoo lived to be about 170 years old.

Still, if Nielsen's estimations are correct, the Greenland shark would be a record breaker.

Greenland sharks are among the largest sharks on the planet. They are dark brown or purple with small, beady eyes. They inhabit the Arctic and sub-Arctic waters, as well as cold, deep water in other oceans throughout the world.

Because they spend most of their time in the darkness their eyesight is thought to be very poor, but a vast network of neurons in their snouts suggest they hunt and scavenge using their powerful sense of smell.

"They are basically a giant swimming nose," said Aaron Fisk, a professor at the University of Windsor who has studied the Greenland shark for two decades.