Ming, an Icelandic clam was the world’s longest-lived animal

Ming (c. 1499 – 2006) was anickname given to a specimen of theocean quahog clam (Arctica islandica, family Veneridae), that was dredged off the coast ofIceland in 2006 and whose age was calculated by counting annual growth lines in the shell. Ming was the oldest individual (non-colonial) animal ever discovered whose age could be accurately determined. Originally thought to be 405 years old, Ming was later determined to be 507 years old.

the title of the world’s longest-lived animal is held by Ming, an Icelandic clam known as an ocean quahog, that made it to 507 years before scientists bumped it off. And what killed Ming the clam? Scientists trying to work out how old he was, that's what. They found out by killing him.