LIST OF LONG-LIVING ORGANISMS

This is a 'list of the oldest living organisms'. This is usually defined as:

★ having a longer lifespan than other organisms of similar species (such as the Methuselah tree)

★ noteworthy record-holders (such as Jeanne Calment)

Contents

Millions of Years

Tens of thousands of years

Thousands of years

Hundreds of years

References

See also

Millions of Years

★ Various claims have been made about reviving bacterial spores to active metabolism after millions of years. There are claims of spores from amber being revived after 40 million years, and spores from salt deposits in New Mexico being revived after 240 million years. These claims have been made by credible researchers, but are not universally accepted.[1]

Tens of thousands of years

:''Note: entries in this section are all clonal colonies. No individual part of a clonal colony lives for more than a very small fraction of the times reported for the whole clone in itself. Some clonal colonies may be fully connected via their root systems, while most are not actually interconnected, but are genetically identical clones which populated an area through vegetative reproduction. Ages for clonal colonies, often based on current growth rates, cannot be determined with any scientific accuracy, and are highly speculative.''^[1]

★ A huge colony of the sea grass ''Posidonia oceanica'' in the Mediterranean Sea could be up to 100,000 years old.^[2]

★ Pando (tree). This clonal colony of ''Populus tremuloides'' has been claimed to be 80,000 years old^[3], although some claims place it as being as old as one million years^[4].

★ King's Lomatia: The sole surviving clonal colony of this species is estimated to be at least 43,600 years old.^[5]

★ A huckleberry bush is thought to be as old as 13,000 years of age.^[6]

★ ''Eucalyptus recurva'': clones are claimed to be 13,000 years old.^[7]

★ Creosote bush: a ring of bushes in the Mojave desert are estimated at 11,700 years old.^[8]

Thousands of years

★ A Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (''Pinus longaeva'') called "Prometheus" was measured by ring count at 4,844 years old when it was felled in 1964. This is the greatest verified age for any living organism at the time of its death.

★ Another Great Basin Bristlecone Pine known as "Methuselah", measured by ring count of sample cores is, at 4,838 years old, the oldest known living organism currently alive.^[9]

★ ''Fitzroya cupressoides'' is the species with the second oldest verified age, a specimen in Chile being measured by ring count as 3,622 years old.

★ A Sacred Fig (''Ficus religiosa'') specimen, the Sri Maha Bodhi, is (if its reported planting date of 288 BC is correct) at 2,293 years old, the oldest known flowering plant.

★ A specimen of ''Lagarostrobos franklinii'' in Tasmania is thought to be about 2000 years old.^[10]

★ Claimed as the world's largest living organism, an individual of the fungus species ''Armillaria ostoyae'' was discovered in Oregon's Blue Mountains in 2001, and is thought to be between 2,000 and 8,500 years old.^[11],[12]

★ A seed from the previously extinct Judean date palm was coaxed to sprout after nearly 2000 years.

Hundreds of years

★ The Icelandic Cyprine ''Arctica islandica'', a mollusk, is the oldest reported animal ever, with a maximum recorded lifespan of 374 years.^[13]

★ Adwaita, an Aldabra Giant Tortiose, died at an unconfirmed age of 256 years old.^[14]

★ Unconfirmed sources estimate some Bowhead Whales to be 240 years old. This would make them the oldest mammals.^[15]

★ Some koi fish have reportedly lived up to 200 years.Dr. Komei Koshihara, ''The Story of Hanako'', NHK, 1966 - about the carp that died 226-year-old, and century-old carps

★ Another Galápagos tortoise, Tu'i Malila died at an age of 188 or 192 years old.^[16]

★ Another Galápagos tortoise, Harriet died in 2006 at an unconfirmed age of 175 years old.^[17]

★ Timothy, another tortoise, died at 160 years old.

★ Jeanne Calment was the oldest human. She was 122 years old at time of death.

★ A 106 year old female Blue-and-yellow Macaw named Charlie was born in 1899. It was incorrectly claimed that she formerly belonged to Winston Churchill.

★ Reports claim that Chilean sea bass live to be 100+ years old.

References

1. How Old Is That Tree? Gymnosperm Database
2. Ibiza's Monster Marine Plant Ibiza Spotlight
3. Quaking Aspen by the Bryce Canyon National Park Service
4. Genetic Variation and the Natural History of Quaking Aspen, Mitton, J. B. & Grant, M. C. (1996). ''BioScience'' 46 (1): 25-31.
5. Tasmanian bush could be oldest living organism Discovery Channel
6. Ad Crable, Lancaster New Era, August 20 1999 ''Meet the World's oldest - and hardest working - plant''
7. Oldest Living Organism
8. Plant Hall of Fame
9. ''Pinus longaeva'' Gymnosperm Database
10. Botanical Record Breakers: Amazing Trivia About Plants
11. Humongous Fungus A New Kind Of Individual. ''Science Daily''. March 25 2003.
12. Fungus is world's largest living organism. ''Science Daily''. June 10 2007.
13. Climate records from a bivalved Methuselah, Schöne et al., , , Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2005
14. "'Clive of India's' tortoise dies" BBC News
15. Bowhead Whales May Be the World's Oldest Mammals Alaska Science Forum
16. Seed: Week In Science: 6/23 - 6/29
17. Harriet the Tortoise dies at 175

See also

★ Maximum life span

★ Oldest people

★ Oldest tree

★ Largest organism