Ming ( 1499–2006), also known as Hafrún, was an

ocean quahog The ocean quahog (''Arctica islandica'') is a species of edible clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Arcticidae. This species is native to the North Atlantic Ocean, and it is harvested commercially as a food source. This species is ...

clam Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two shel ...

(''

Arctica islandica The ocean quahog (''Arctica islandica'') is a species of edible clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Arcticidae. This species is native to the North Atlantic Ocean, and it is harvested commercially as a food source. This species is als ...

'', family Arcticidae) that was

dredged Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

off the coast of

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

in 2006 and whose age was calculated by counting annual growth lines in the shell. Ming was the oldest individual (non-

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

) animal ever discovered whose age could be precisely determined. Thought to be 405 years old, Ming was later determined to be 507 years old, although the clam had previously been killed to make this determination. The size of the clam was 87 mm × 73 mm.

Name

The clam was initially named Ming by '' Sunday Times'' journalists, in reference to the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

, during which it was born. Later, the Icelandic researchers on the cruise which discovered the clam named it Hafrún, a woman's name which translates roughly as 'the mystery of the ocean'; taken from , 'ocean', and , 'mystery'). The actual sex of the clam, however, is unknown, as its reproductive state was recorded as "spent".

Original discovery

The clam was dredged off the northern coast of

in 2006. In 2007, on the basis of counting the annual growth bands on the cross-sectional surface of the hinge region of the shell, researchers announced that the clam was 405 years old. The research was carried out by researchers from Bangor University. In the process the clam died. Professor Richardson said that the existence of such long-lived species could help scientists discover how some animals reach such advanced ages. The mollusc's long life came to an end in 2006 when the researchers – unaware of the animal's exceptional age – froze the specimen, killing it.

Revision of age

In 2013, another assessment of the age of the clam was carried out counting bands which were measured on the sectioned surface of the outer shell margin and this was verified by comparing the banding patterns with those on other shells that were alive at the same time; this confirmed that the clam was 507 years old when it was caught. The revised age estimate is also supported by

carbon-14 dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was d ...

; marine biologist Rob Witbaard commented that he considers this second assessment accurate to within 1–2 years.

References

{{Reflist Individual molluscs 1499 animal births 2006 animal deaths Arcticidae Individual wild animals Oldest animals Clams

Name

Original discovery

Revision of age

See also

References