<p>The world's oldest creature - a mollusc that was accidentally killed by scientists while verifying its age - has turned out to be 100 years older than previously thought.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The mollusc, named Ming, was calculated to be 405-years-old when scientists accidentally killed it by opening its shell.<br /><br />New calculations have now emerged that the original age of the quahog clam was actually 507-years-old when it died - a good 102 years older than estimated.<br /><br />It means Ming, named after the Chinese dynasty, was born in 1499.<br /><br />Ming was found alive by climate change experts from Bangor University in north Wales on a trip dredging the seabeds of Iceland in 2006, 'Daily Mirror' reported.<br /><br />After the discovery, scientists counted the rings on the inside shell to work out Ming's age.<br /><br />"We got it wrong the first time and maybe we were a bit hasty publishing our findings back then. But we are absolutely certain that we've got the right age now," said Ocean scientist Paul Butler from Bangor University.<br /><br />"The nice thing about these shells is that they have distinct annual growth lines, so we can accurately date the shell material.<br /><br />"That's just the same as what archaeologists do when they use tree rings in dead wood to work out the dates of old buildings," Butler said.<br /><br />The quahog only grows in summer when the water is warm and it feasts on plankton, each year growing a layer as thin as 0.1 millimetres.</p>
<p>The world's oldest creature - a mollusc that was accidentally killed by scientists while verifying its age - has turned out to be 100 years older than previously thought.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The mollusc, named Ming, was calculated to be 405-years-old when scientists accidentally killed it by opening its shell.<br /><br />New calculations have now emerged that the original age of the quahog clam was actually 507-years-old when it died - a good 102 years older than estimated.<br /><br />It means Ming, named after the Chinese dynasty, was born in 1499.<br /><br />Ming was found alive by climate change experts from Bangor University in north Wales on a trip dredging the seabeds of Iceland in 2006, 'Daily Mirror' reported.<br /><br />After the discovery, scientists counted the rings on the inside shell to work out Ming's age.<br /><br />"We got it wrong the first time and maybe we were a bit hasty publishing our findings back then. But we are absolutely certain that we've got the right age now," said Ocean scientist Paul Butler from Bangor University.<br /><br />"The nice thing about these shells is that they have distinct annual growth lines, so we can accurately date the shell material.<br /><br />"That's just the same as what archaeologists do when they use tree rings in dead wood to work out the dates of old buildings," Butler said.<br /><br />The quahog only grows in summer when the water is warm and it feasts on plankton, each year growing a layer as thin as 0.1 millimetres.</p>