Immortality has been the most coveted thing human beings wanted, since ancient times. The history of mankind believed in anything and everything that they thought might open the door to immortality. From using body parts of other animals to make medicine for immortality to sacrificing another human in order to add his years to one’s own, to science trying to figure a ‘cure’ for death, people are just crazy about becoming immortal.
Sadly enough, these plants and animals didn’t have to go that extra mile because mother nature herself has given them the boon of immortality.
1. Whales
Whales can live for a very long time. While not completely immortal, bowhead whales have lived for more than 200 years.
2. Flatworms
These crawler worms are natural cloning machines; if they are cut in two halves, each half ends up becoming a separate worm. A study conducted by the University of Nottingham has found that their regeneration abilities might actually lead to potential immortality.
3. Jellyfish
Turritopsis dohrnii, a certain kind of Jellyfish is in the truest sense immortal and are the real world equivalent of the mythical phoenix bird. After reaching maturity, they can revert back to the polyp (baby) stage, and start living all over again.
4. Lobsters
Whether lobsters are actually immortal or not has been a topic of discussion among scientists for long. According to some scientists, they do indeed end up dying, but mostly by being killed by some external reason, rather than dying a natural death; leading to the belief that if left undisturbed, they can live indefinitely. On the other hand, some say that their possible immortality doesn’t exist.
5. Bristlecone pine
The longevity of these North American trees baffles scientists till day. Despite being thousands of years old, their cells are still as youthful as a new sapling. They have been here when the city of Troy actually existed and they’d probably be here long after we die.
6. Ocean quahog
These molluscs can have cell membranes that are extremely resistant to damages, leading to probable biological immortality.
7. Turtles
It is a common knowledge that turtles can live for an extremely long time. “Turtles don’t really die of old age,” said Dr. Raxworthy, the associate curator at the American Museum of Natural History. And apparently, unless they get killed in some external way, they can live indefinitely.
8. Hydra
Hydra, a relative of Jellyfish, also boasts of biological immortality. It’s stem cells are so potent that they can regrow any body part, and are the main cause of its immortality.
And here are we, mortal humans claiming to be the best species of all, when we haven’t even managed to become ‘immortal’ yet – a feat these ‘lower-than-us’ organisms have managed to do.