We already know that this can happen in these long-lived animals.

Albatrosses' complex visual and vocal dances are considered some of the most developed mating displays in any long-lived animal.

With the global cooling of the Miocene and Pliocene, their geographic distribution shrank and these hardy and long-lived animals declined in diversity again.

Lamellibrachia luymesi is a cold seep tube worm which reaches lengths of over 3 meters, and may be the most long-lived animal at over 250 years old.

The deer, a symbol of longevity, usually (but not always) accompanies him as a messenger, as do other long-lived animals such as the crane and the tortoise.

Scientists are now investigating the biology of long-lived animals to find ways to slow down our own aging process, but the clues have proved elusive.

As stingrays are slow-reproducing, long-lived animals, there are fears that this unregulated exploitation is unsustainable and will lead to a population collapse.

Then there are the very long-lived animals and plants - fish, clams, trees, among others - that age so slowly that their rate of aging can be called negligible.

These long-lived animals do not get diseases of aging until they get older.

A very long-lived animal, the leopard tortoise is seldom sexually mature until it is between the ages of 12 and 15 years.