The rate of metabolism slows down over time in most animals. This leads to decreased production of energy, slower repair of cells, and a reduced ability to remove cellular waste.
The researchers took muscle tissue samples from 23 Greenland sharks that were caught on the south coast of Disko Island in central Greenland.
Then, they examined the activity of five different enzymes in the samples to calculate their metabolic rate and determine their responses to various environmental temperatures.
By measuring the body length of each of the sharks, the researchers were able to guess their ages. They used a model from a 2016 study to estimate the age of Greenland sharks.
They found that the sharks ranged in age from 60 to 200 years. When they compared the sharks’ enzyme activity, they did not observe any changes across the different ages.
The Greenland sharks’ metabolism remained stable even as they got older, suggesting that they don’t degenerate like other animals do.
This is most likely the reason for their long lives. A series of tests showed that the enzymes had higher activity when subjected to warmer temperatures.
“The higher activity in warmer conditions would suggest that if these sharks were forced into a warmer environment, then their metabolism would increase significantly, which would likely alter their lifestyle,” Camplisson said.
It is expected that the temperatures of global sea surfaces will increase by 2.1 to 5.8 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100 because of global warming.
The researchers hope that further research can be conducted on the sharks’ metabolism to figure out ways to protect them as their environment undergoes rapid changes.
