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Meet 100-year-old salamander

Posted by Jennifer Welsh
[Entry posted at 21st July 2010 01:54 PM GMT]
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A blind, cave-dwelling amphibian appears to live for more than 100 years, an
inexplicable feat that may eventually (when explained) provide insights into
aging in other species.

But first, scientists have to unravel the mystery of how

the species -- known as "human fish" -- achieves such
longevity. "We cannot, at this time, say how this animal
manages to survive such a long time," said eco-
physiologist Yann Voituron, from the Université Claude
Bernard - Lyon, first author of the study published
online today (July 21) in Biology Letters. He was able
to calculate the animal's extreme longevity by studying The "human fish", or olm.
Scientific Name: Proteus anguinus
over 50 years of birth and death records of a 400- Image: Yann Voituron
animal captive breeding colony at the Station D'Ecologie
Expérimental du CNRS in Moulis, France.

The human fish, also called an olm, is a small, pale salamander, weighing
between 15 and 20 grams, that has evolved extreme longevity living blindly in
the caves of Europe. It can also live for a year without eating and can survive in
hypoxic conditions for years.

Voituron's calculations from the weekly records of the colony predicted the olm's
maximum lifespan to be over 100 years, with an average lifespan of 68.5 years.
The olm's longevity exceeds that of other amphibians of its size by several
times, much the way humans live about four times longer than other animals
their size.

Indeed, the runner-up for longest living amphibian, the giant Japanese
salamander, weighs in around 25kg, 1000 times more massive than the olm. "It
is rather strange to discover that [so small an] animal, weighing about 15-20
grams, is able to survive more than a century," said Voituron. "It's the first time
we found this kind of profile for a vertebrate [other than humans]."

In one respect, the amphibian's longevity is not surprising, since it has a natural
lack of predators, enabling it to evolve to favor long-term survival and less
frequent reproduction.

In other respects, however, the human fish's ability to live 100 years makes no
sense, biologically.

Several physiological traits are normally associated with long-lived animals:

larger size, low metabolic rates, and high protection against oxidative stress.
Examples include giant tortoises and elephants - animals that have large body
masses and low basal metabolic rates.

The olm, however, doesn't show any of these traits. So why does it live so long?

John Speakman, an energetics researcher at The University of Aberdeen said in

an email that the olm is "a fascinating animal." And in consideration of recent
findings that the naked mole-rat, the longest-lived rodent at 28 years, is
immune to elevated levels of oxidative stress, the olm "cast[s] further doubt on
the oxidative stress theory of ageing."

The authors have suggested two possible explanations. The first is the animal's
exceptional laziness -- it only eats about once a month, and doesn't have to run
away from predators, because it has none in its natural environment. Because it
doesn't extend much energy, its metabolic rate mostly stays at its baseline
rates, while most animals' metabolisms are often running much above their basal
rate. "This could be a way to avoid free radical production, and thus aging," said
Voituron.

Their second theory, supported by data they've collected since publishing the
paper, is that the olm's mitochondria function differently from normal
mitochondria -- they are able to process more ATP with less oxygen, thereby
reducing their free radical output. Voituron is currently learning more about the
olm's mitochondrial functioning, and comparing it to other species.

Caleb Finch, an aging researcher at the University of Southern California, said he

believes the human fish could be an example of "negligible senescence" --
extremely slow aging without an increase in disease or loss of reproduction.

"This is a new [longevity] example that is very valuable," said Finch. "It
documents another group of vertebrates, with actual lifespan data, that show
extremely slow aging."

Y. Voituron et al., "Extreme lifespan of the human fish (Proteus

Anguinus): a challenge for ageing mechanisms," Biology Letters AOP July
20, 2010 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2010.0539

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