A new study has revealed that the “living dinosaur” lake sturgeon in Lake Michigan may be more than 400 years old.
Lake sturgeon have been on the fossil record for 150 million years, and were already referred to as “living dinosaurs” when it was believed that their lifespan was capped at 150 years.
However, a new study published by officials and universities in Michigan and Wisconsin has found that the lifespan of the sturgeon, one of the largest freshwater fish in North America with a mass of 200-300 lbs, may be much longer than previously thought.
Their lifespans are nearly as long as Greenland sharks
In their study, the researchers used 44 years of data on five different populations of lake sturgeon. They captured the fish, determined the sex, measured them, before marking and releasing them.
They would then repeat this in later years, measuring the growth of the fish they had already caught. These measurements helped the researchers to estimate how long the fish had lived and what their rate of growth was.
They found that the 63-inch long males could live between 90 and 279 years, and the 71-inch females living between 99 and 427 years, making them less than a century shy of Greenland sharks, the longest-lived vertebrates on Earth at 512 years.
The Great Lakes’ sturgeon population was nearly wiped out by fishermen in the late 1800s.Speaking to News Channel 3, Edward Baker, manager of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Marquette research station, said: “We’ve concluded that sturgeon live far longer lives than initially thought based on looking at growth rings and fin ray cross sections.”
Baker also noted that the Great Lakes sturgeon population used to be around 2 million, but it has fallen to less than 1% of that in 2026. The species is threatened by human pollution and climate change, and was also denied protection by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Endangered Species Act in 2024.
For more on fish, check out our coverage of the “zombie fish” found in Lake Superior, or the Atlantic’s largest ever male great white shark appearing near a tourist hotspot.
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
