Clam lived for 507 years but died as scientists tried to figure out its age

While a number of animals can live for an extraordinarily long time, the record goes to a quahog clam that reached the very old age of 507.

It was first discovered in 2006 by a group of Icelandic scientists who immediately sensed that it had been around for quite some time and decided they'd count its growth rings to determine exactly how long it had been alive.

After determining that clam's exterior markings were too dense and challenging to study, the team cracked the clam open to get a read on its interior markers.

Sadly, this proved to be an unwise choice as in doing so it put an end this remarkable lifespan. What's more, the insides didn't even end up being helpful and the team went back to counting the exterior rings.

They eventually came up with an age of 405. This estimate was off as well however, subsequent analysis by various other means revealed that the clam was in fact five hundred and seven years old at the time of its death.

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