# Scientists accidentally kill world's oldest animal at age 507 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 16, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078 "2013-11-16T21:34:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/21 "2013-11-17T06:17:24Z")
I like clams. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uKhm5ol00fk/hqdefault.jpg ""Clams" by Harm Farm") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKhm5ol00fk) ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/22 "2013-11-17T06:42:58Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Correction: Half a _millennium_. But yeah, he was probably begging for death’s sweet embrace. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/23 "2013-11-17T10:53:31Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Surely, at that age, it had quite a big beard. Stop it. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/24 "2013-11-17T11:13:13Z")
He’s lucky he wasn’t in a rock band, he would have died 480 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/25 "2013-11-17T12:00:53Z")
So long Ming. We hardly knew ye. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/26 "2013-11-17T13:49:07Z")
I wonder how $cientologists feel about this. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/27 "2013-11-17T14:36:00Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I’m reminded of a Far Side cartoon, in which a man is relating the centuries-long history of a giant sequoia, by reading the rings just after he’s sawed it down. Not too far from a true story… > [@](#): > > Prometheus (aka WPN-114) was the oldest known non-clonal organism, a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva) tree growing near the tree line on Wheeler Peak in eastern Nevada, United States. The tree, which was at least 4862 years old and possibly more than 5000, was cut down in 1964 by a graduate student and United States Forest Service personnel for research purposes.[1] The people involved did not know of its world-record age before the cutting[…], but the circumstances and decision-making process remain controversial; not all the facts are agreed upon by all involved. > **[Prometheus (tree)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_(tree))** > > Prometheus (recorded as WPN-114) was the oldest known non-clonal organism, a Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) tree growing near the tree line on Wheeler Peak in eastern Nevada, United States. The tree, which was at least 4,862 years old and possibly more than 5,000, was cut down in 1964 by a graduate student and United States Forest Service personnel for research purposes. Those involved did not know of its world-record age before the cutting, and the circumstances and decision-ma Th... ---
**Author:** ![chowching](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@chowching](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowching)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/28 "2013-11-17T14:50:57Z")
Well did they taste it? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/29 "2013-11-17T14:54:25Z")
> [@](#): > > You may leave the clam on the ocean’s floor, > It’s all the same to the clam. > For a hundred thousand years or more, > It’s all the same to the clam. > You may bury him deep in mud and muck > Or carry him 'round to bring you luck, > Or use him for a hockey puck, > It’s all the same to the clam. -Shel Silverstein ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/30 "2013-11-17T16:12:05Z")
It was those damn [clam shooters](http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Tomato-Ginger-Gelee-Clam-Shooters-108160)… ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/31 "2013-11-17T18:30:26Z")
This is a clamity. I hope the killers got into a soup. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/32 "2013-11-17T18:54:12Z")
Presumably it enjoyed whatever existence it had — to end it through curiosity only leads to the hope that blundering idiots destroy themselves in some comical fashion very soon. Thomas Lovell Beddoes would have written a dirge about it. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Toothpaste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@James\_Toothpaste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Toothpaste)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/33 "2013-11-17T19:13:27Z")
That’s sad. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/34 "2013-11-18T19:20:43Z")
To quote Governor Perry of Texas, “Oops”. Seriously, this is a ridiculous story. It’s a friggin clam. It wasn’t a mystery old clam that they knew was the oldest living animal and just had to find it’s age, so they cut it open. No, it was a clam they dredged from the ocean bottom with a whole batch of clams as part of a scientific monitoring process and then, while processing the batch, discovered that one was 407 years old. And that was 2006. Now somebody has reanalyzed and is updating the age to correct it. But this was a random clam dredged from the ocean bottom. Clams are dredged up every day. Unless you cry over every clam chowder, clam bisque, and clam sandwich out there, it’s preposterous to cry over this clam. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/35 "2013-11-18T19:50:51Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > I hope they at least made some chowder. I would think that 507 year-old clam would be the toughest, stringiest piece of meat ever. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/36 "2013-11-18T19:58:46Z")
I have to wonder how much experience has taught that clam over all those years. I wonder if he did anything different than younger clams or if being a clam is just being a clam. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/37 "2013-11-18T20:05:36Z")
Any chance they’ll clamp down on this calamitous clam clamor? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/38 "2013-11-18T20:11:37Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > I get it’s a shame to end something that’s lived a profoundly long time. But it’s lived a long, full life. Of just kinda sitting there. At the bottom of the sea. For half a century. Bored out of its goddamn clam-mind. > > Even for a clam, they probably did it a favor. Thinking about this in terms of reincarnation, imagine how much it would suck to come back as a clam and be stuck waiting 500 years before you could get on with your next life. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/39 "2013-11-18T20:15:23Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Thinking about this in terms of reincarnation, imagine how much it would suck to come back as a clam and be stuck waiting 500 years before you could get on with your next life. Which might indeed be another clam. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078/40 "2013-11-18T20:32:08Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I have to wonder how much experience has taught that clam over all those years. I wonder if he did anything different than younger clams or if being a clam is just being a clam. “Then there was the time I sat in one spot, slowly filtering sea water for nutrients…” Age aside, a 500 year old clam doesn’t seem to have much more to offer than a 20 year old clam. Or a 5 year old clam for that matter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-accidentally-kill-worlds-oldest-animal-at-age-507/674078.md?page=3)