Scooped up from 262-feet deep waters off the coast of Iceland by researchers from Britain's Bangor University as part of a project to study the effects of climate change on long-living clams, its initial age was arrived at by analyzing the lines on its shells. That's because similar to trees, mollusks add a layer or ring, each year. After counting 405, the scientists decided to name it Ming in honor of the Chinesedynasty (1368-1644) during which it was born.
With everyone happy, Ming was placed back in the archives and almost forgotten until November 6th, when the Bangor University scientists announced that they may have been too hasty in proclaiming its age. Paul Butler, a researcher at the University says that a recount of Ming's rings together with sophisticated age estimating techniques like carbon dating-14 had made them realize that the oceanquahog was about a century older than they had previously thought or to be exact - 507 years old! Their initial count had been off because as clams grow older, their rate of size increase diminishes, which means that the rings get closer and closer making it hard to count accurately. However this time around, they are sure they have Ming's age right!
This time around, the researchers used a variety of techniques to verify the clam's age. In addition to counting the bands on its outside and near the ligaments where the shells of the two halves join, the team used carbon-14 dating and even compared changes in more recent growth bands with other organisms that lived in the same environment. They are confident they have the age right this time.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-reveals-ming-mollusk-years-older.html#jCp
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-reveals-ming-mollusk-years-older.html#jCp
Alas, the ancient creature is no more - That's because when it was lifted off its centuries old home, the scientistsinadvertently killed it. While there is a debate about whether it was the freezer that it was put into along with the 200 other samples collected or the researchers prying its shell open to calculate its age that caused its demise, the unfortunate truth is that Ming officially died at the ripe old age of 507!
But given that Arctica islandica bivalve mollusks (the kind Ming was) are known to live hundreds of years, there may be an even older specimen still lying quietly in the depth of our oceans hoping, that it will never be discovered!
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If Ming were to be renamed what do you think it would be called?
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