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
After the discovery, scientists counted the rings on the inside shell to work out Ming's age. "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.
"The nice thing about these shells is that they have distinct annual growth lines, so we can accurately date the shell material.
"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.
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.
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