2 replies to this topic

[Bruce Klein]

Earth's Oldest Trees
If you can believe it, Methuselah was a mere tiny seedling when the ancient Egyptian pyramids were being built thousands of years ago (this is not actually a picture of Methuselah at left - it's identity remains a secret to everyone but the Park Rangers to protect it from being damaged by vandals). These hardy species of pine trees have adapted to some of the harshest living conditions on the planet - extremely dry, ferociously fast winds, high elevations with limited oxygen supply, very little rainfall, and very alkaline, sandy soil. The brutal environment in which they live is one of the main reasons they have been able to survive over the millennia. Lack of competition from other trees, shrubs, and vines who just can't make it in such a tough place helps the bristle cone pine adapt to the rigors of its home soil without interference from other species. Some of the oldest and longest lived of the trees are isolated, solitary sentinels perched in the spots most exposed to the fierce, desiccating (drying through evaporation) winds. Many plant species are unable to live in a place that is continuously assaulted by winds that rob them of essential life-giving moisture.

http://www.extremesc...LivingThing.htm

[tham]

Yes, I remember reading about the Bristlecone Pine
way back in the 60's when I was a kid.

[Lazarus Long]

BTW, the oldest "living thing", and by "thing" in this case I suspect that the site Extreme science means to suggest *multicellular life form kind of "thing" is a King's Holly of Tasmania at 43, 000 years of age.

Today's Winner is...

Of all the world records profiled on Extreme Science this one has proved to be the most elusive and tricky to keep updated. It seems there are a number of different organisms that hold the record for the "longest lived" and their exact ages are still under investigation. In fact, the only thing we can report for certain is that the records listed here will probably be upstaged by a new discovery in the near future. Below is a listing of what is currently in the literature as some of the oldest organisms still living today:

October, 1999; 250-million-year-old bacteria were found in ancient sea salt beneath Carlsbad, New Mexico. The microscopic organisms were revived in a laboratory after being in 'suspended animation', encased in a hard-shelled spore, for an estimated 250 million years. The species has not been identified, but is referred to as strain 2-9-3, or B. permians.

May, 1995; 40-million-year-old bacteria (Bacillus sphaericus) were found in the stomach of a bee encased in amber. These bacteria were also found in a state of suspended animation and were re-animated in a laboratory.

1997; King's Holly (Lomatia tasmanica) - found in the rainforests of Tasmania. Scientists estimated the age of the plant using a nearby fossil of an identical plant. It was found to be over 43,000 years old! The plants appear to be sterile - incapable of producing flowers and viable seeds. Lomatia is triploid, that is, it has three sets of chromosomes instead of two. Because of this it is unable to sexually reproduce. The clonal thickets reproduce vegetatively by root suckering. Fossil leaves found in a late Pleistocene deposit may be genetically identical to present-day plants. The plant is a rare freak of nature whose origins and age are as yet unknown.

http://www.extremesc...LivingThing.htm