New Testing Methods Reveal Sharks Live Much Longer Than Previously Thought

New Testing Methods Reveal Sharks Live Much Longer Than Previously Thought
This undated publicity image released by Discovery Channel shows a great white shark near Guadalupe Island off the coast of Mexico. Shark Week begins Sunday, Aug. 4 at 9 p.m. EST on Discovery. AP Photo/Discovery Channel, Andrew Brandy Casagrande
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According to new studies, scientists have found sharks live longer than first thought.

Scientists realized that previous methods of measuring the ages of shark species were faulty. Scientists would cut through the spines of the sharks and count the pairs of bands to measure age, Nature reported. They would measure age as if looking at the rings inside a tree. Scientists have been using a similar method to analyze the age of rays and other kinds of fish, too.