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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

Coaxed into activity after stasis

  • 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.[2]
  • A seed from the previously extinct Judean date palm was coaxed to sprout after nearly 2,000 years.[1]

Clonal Colonies

As with all long-lived plant and fungal species, no individual part of a clonal colony is alive (in the sense of active metabolism) for more than a very small fraction of the life of the entire clone. 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, are estimates.[2]
  • A huge colony of the sea grass Posidonia oceanica in the Mediterranean Sea could be up to 100,000 years old.[3]
  • Pando (tree). This clonal colony of Populus tremuloides has been estimated at 80,000 years old[4], although some claims place it as being as old as one million years[5].
  • King's Lomatia in Tasmania: The sole surviving clonal colony of this species is estimated to be at least 43,600 years old.[6]
  • A huckleberry bush in Pennsylvania is thought to be as old as 13,000 years of age.[7]
  • Eucalyptus recurva: clones in Australia are claimed to be 13,000 years old.[8]
  • Creosote bush: a ring of bushes in the Mojave desert are estimated at 11,700 years old.[9]
  • 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.[10][11][12]

Individual plant specimens

  • A Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva) called Prometheus was measured by ring count at 4,862 years old when it was felled in 1964. This is the greatest verified age for any living organism at the time of its killing.[2]
  • Fortingall Yew, an ancient yew (Taxus baccata) in the churchyard of the village of Fortingall in Perthshire, Scotland; probably the oldest tree in Europe. Various estimates have put its age at between 2000 and 5000 years.
  • 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.[13]
  • 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.[2]
  • 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.[14]
  • Numerous Olive trees are purported to be 2000 years old or older. An olive tree in Crete, claiming such longevity, has been confirmed on the basis of tree ring analysis.[citation needed]

Animals

  • A specimen of the Icelandic Cyprine Arctica islandica (also known as an ocean quahog), a mollusk, was found to have lived 405 years and possibly up to 410.[15]. Another specimen had a recorded lifespan of 374 years.[16]
  • Adwaita, an Aldabra Giant Tortoise, died at an unconfirmed age of 256 years in March 2006.
  • Some unconfirmed sources estimated Bowhead Whales to have lived up to 210 years of age. This would make them the oldest mammals.[17]
  • Some koi fish have reportedly lived up to 200 years.[18]
  • Tu'i Malila, a Radiated Tortoise died at an age of 188 years in May 1965.[19]
  • Harriet, a Galápagos tortoise died at an unconfirmed age of 175 years in June 2006.[20]
  • Timothy, a Spur-thighed Tortoise, died at an age of 160 years in April 2004.[21]
  • Jeanne Calment was the oldest human to have verifiable birth records. She was 122 years old at time of death.
  • A 106-year old female Blue-and-yellow Macaw named Charlie was hatched in 1899. It was incorrectly claimed that she formerly belonged to Winston Churchill.[3]
  • There is anecdotal evidence that the Patagonian toothfish[citation needed] and Sturgeon can live for over 100 years.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Erlanger, Steven. "After 2,000 years, a seed from ancient Judea sprouts." The New York Times. June 12, 2005.
  2. ^ a b c Gymnosperm Database (2 January 2007). How Old Is That Tree?. Retrieved on 2006-07-25.
  3. ^ Ibiza Spotlight (28 May 2006). Ibiza's Monster Marine Plant. Retrieved on 2007-05-09.
  4. ^ Quaking Aspen by the Bryce Canyon National Park Service
  5. ^ Genetic Variation and the Natural History of Quaking Aspen, Mitton, J. B. & Grant, M. C. (1996). BioScience 46 (1): 25-31.
  6. ^ Discovery Channel (21 October 1996). Tasmanian bush could be oldest living organism. Retrieved on 2006-07-25.
  7. ^ Ad Crable, Lancaster New Era, August 20 1999 Meet the World's oldest - and hardest working - plant
  8. ^ Oldest Living Organism. Retrieved on 2006-07-25.
  9. ^ Plant Hall of Fame.
  10. ^ Humongous Fungus A New Kind Of Individual. Science Daily. March 25 2003.
  11. ^ Fungus is world's largest living organism. Science Daily. June 10 2007. It is thought to be the worlds largest organism by area, at 2,384 acres (965 hectares).
  12. ^ [1]. Science Daily. October 04 2007.
  13. ^ Gymnosperm Database (15 March 2007). Pinus longaeva. Retrieved on 2006-07-25.
  14. ^ Botanical Record Breakers: Amazing Trivia About Plants
  15. ^ http://www.newsdaily.com/Science/UPI-1-20071028-18102000-bc-britain-clam-crn.xml
  16. ^ Schöne et al. (2005). "Climate records from a bivalved Methuselah". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (228): 130-148.
  17. ^ Alaska Science Forum (15 February 2001). Bowhead Whales May Be the World's Oldest Mammals. Retrieved on 2006-07-25.
  18. ^ Dr. Komei Koshihara, The Story of Hanako, NHK, 1966 - about the carp that died 226-year-old, and century-old carps
  19. ^ Seed: Week In Science: 6/23 - 6/29
  20. ^ "Harriet the Tortoise dies at 175", BBC News, 23 June 2006. 
  21. ^ "Timmy the tortoise dies aged 160" BBC News

See also
 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "List_of_long-living_organisms". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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