The oldest known animal died the day we went to count its years

It was an Arctica islandica, a cold-water clam like the ones served at any table. The researchers who collected it off the Icelandic coast froze it on board with the rest of the catch, following standard procedure. Only later, studying its shell in the laboratory, did the surprises begin.

Clams keep time the way trees do: each year adds a growth line. The first count gave about 405 years, already a record. In 2013, a finer analysis corrected the figure: 507 years. It had been born around 1499, when the Ming dynasty ruled China — which is why they named it Ming.

It is the longest-lived animal ever precisely dated, not counting colonies such as corals. It survived five centuries of storms, predators and ships, and its life ended at the exact moment science came close enough to ask its age. Nobody killed Ming through carelessness or for a trophy: it died in the very process of being discovered.

On the seabed, right now, there is probably an older one. With a little luck, we will never find it.