| Title |
Eye lens radiocarbon reveals centuries of longevity in the Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus)
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Science, August 2016
|
| DOI | 10.1126/science.aaf1703 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Julius Nielsen, Rasmus B Hedeholm, Jan Heinemeier, Peter G Bushnell, Jørgen S Christiansen, Jesper Olsen, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Richard W Brill, Malene Simon, Kirstine F Steffensen, John F Steffensen |
| Abstract |
The Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus), an iconic species of the Arctic Seas, grows slowly and reaches >500 centimeters (cm) in total length, suggesting a life span well beyond those of other vertebrates. Radiocarbon dating of eye lens nuclei from 28 female Greenland sharks (81 to 502 cm in total length) revealed a life span of at least 272 years. Only the smallest sharks (220 cm or less) showed signs of the radiocarbon bomb pulse, a time marker of the early 1960s. The age ranges of prebomb sharks (reported as midpoint and extent of the 95.4% probability range) revealed the age at sexual maturity to be at least 156 ± 22 years, and the largest animal (502 cm) to be 392 ± 120 years old. Our results show that the Greenland shark is the longest-lived vertebrate known, and they raise concerns about species conservation. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 2,110 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | 303 | 14% |
| United States | 164 | 8% |
| United Kingdom | 83 | 4% |
| Canada | 37 | 2% |
| Spain | 29 | 1% |
| Australia | 24 | 1% |
| France | 21 | <1% |
| Germany | 18 | <1% |
| Argentina | 12 | <1% |
| Other | 193 | 9% |
| Unknown | 1226 | 58% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 1858 | 88% |
| Scientists | 196 | 9% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 34 | 2% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 20 | <1% |
| Unknown | 2 | <1% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 585 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 2 | <1% |
| United States | 2 | <1% |
| United Kingdom | 2 | <1% |
| Portugal | 1 | <1% |
| Netherlands | 1 | <1% |
| Canada | 1 | <1% |
| Switzerland | 1 | <1% |
| Belgium | 1 | <1% |
| Mexico | 1 | <1% |
| Other | 2 | <1% |
| Unknown | 571 | 98% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 102 | 17% |
| Researcher | 91 | 16% |
| Student > Bachelor | 90 | 15% |
| Student > Master | 80 | 14% |
| Student > Postgraduate | 27 | 5% |
| Other | 90 | 15% |
| Unknown | 105 | 18% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 220 | 38% |
| Environmental Science | 69 | 12% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 62 | 11% |
| Earth and Planetary Sciences | 28 | 5% |
| Physics and Astronomy | 13 | 2% |
| Other | 70 | 12% |
| Unknown | 123 | 21% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 3389. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 24 March 2024.
All research outputs
#1,769
of 25,770,491 outputs
Outputs from Science
#101
of 83,322 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#11
of 370,834 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Science
#1
of 1,040 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,770,491 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
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