Are there immortal species

It can also apply to an entire organism where a living thing can no longer respond adequately to outside stressors , or to specific organs or tissues like leaves dying and falling from trees in autumn. While there are ways we can slow down or speed up the rate at which senescence occurs, it is still going to happen one way or another. However, a few species can escape the ageing process completely. These small, transparent animals hang out in oceans around the world and can turn back time by reverting to an earlier stage of their life cycle.

A new jellyfish life begins with a fertilised egg, which grows into a larval stage called a planula. It remains stuck in place for some time, growing into a little colony of polyps that share feeding tubes with each other.

This process is responsible for the next stages of the jellyfish life cycle: the ephyra a small jellyfish and the medusa, which is the fully-formed adult stage capable of sexual reproduction.

For most other jellyfish, this stage is the end of the line. But Turritopsis dohrnii and possibly some other jellyfish species too has a neat party trick: when it faces some kind of environmental stress, like starvation or injury, it can revert back to being a tiny blob of tissue, which then changes back into the sexually immature polyp phase of life.

It is a bit like a butterfly turning back into a caterpillar, or a frog becoming a tadpole again. Science Jobs in Space! Back to top. This link take you away from the Fun Kids website. The frog had been known to science for nearly a decade, but this shape-shifting ability — thought to help the frog blend into its environment — had never been documented before. Other animals have long been known to use similar camouflaging tricks, including many species of octopus that can suddenly transform the texture and colour of their bodies to match the surface on which they are resting.

It may be similar to goosebumps on human skin — an involuntary reaction triggered by, for example, low temperatures, explains Dr Gentle. Of course, some organisms take on entirely new forms through metamorphosis — the most well-known example being the many caterpillars that form a chrysalis and later emerge as butterflies.

But there are some surprising other examples, too. Various species of single-celled amoeba frequently join together as multicellular structures — in other words, they team up to transform.

When the slug has settled on a new feeding ground, it changes form again, into a mature fruiting body that releases spores and begins the life cycle over again. Your information will be used in accordance with our privacy policy. Apparently, there are already many existing plant and animal species that are seemingly deathless, if not, can live for a very long time compared to the lifespan of humans.

To put it in other words, these organisms could die as they might get killed by either a predator or a destructive change in the environment or suffer from a disease. But unlike humans, they rarely die because of old age. Below are some of these amazing biologically immortal animals that actually live in this world. The following list is in no particular order. As their name suggests, these tortoises are one of the largest species of tortoises in the world.

These tortoises take a very long time to grow as they do not reach sexual maturity until over 30 years old. The oldest confirmed age of a tortoise was years. However, scientists have revealed that some may have persisted twice that age. Aside from their humongous size, another astonishing fact about bowhead whales is that they can live up to more than a hundred years. The secret to this? They can repair damaged DNA, hence are prevented from developing cancer. Scientists also suggested that these whales can survive the absence of oxygen even for a long time.

Believe it or not, some species of clams can live up to more than years. This process too is still up for further studies. More Reading: Science Daily. This is because some species can control the growth of their spicules mineralized structures at a very slow rate, hence slowing down their aging process.

Known as the longest living vertebrate with an average lifespan of years, this species of sharks does not reach sexual maturity until years. The secret to this is pretty obvious— its incredible ability to withstand the intense darkness and freezing temperature at meters depth.

More Reading: CNN. According to studies, the hydra is one of the few animals that does not show any signs of deterioration with age. Being able to continuously divide and regenerate new body cells , hydras can basically keep themselves young for long periods of time even until forever.

Did you ever wonder if you could go back to being a child?