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.
August, 1999; Box Huckleberry
(Gaylussacia brachycera) - researchers in Pennsylvania have discovered
a living plant that is a remnant of the last Ice Age. Using the known
rate of growth if this self-sterile plant, they estimated that this
1/4-acre colony is over 13,000 years old. Researchers
are still trying to verify the growth rate to determine is that age
is an accurate measure.
March, 2004; Eucalyptus recurva.
Also known as "Mongarlowe Mallee" or "Ice Age Gum"
it is the rarest Eucalypt in Australia or the world, and is known from
only 5 individual specimens. Scientists in Australia are undertaking
analyses to determine the exact age of one specimen that is estimated
to be 13,000 years old. This aging method also relies
on determining the plant's growth rate. Scientists are stilly verifying
the growth and performing genetic analyses of neighboring specimens
to determine if they are from the same organism.
April, 1980; Creosote bush (Larrea
tridentata). Scientists discovered a giant, and very ancient clone
of the creosote bush in the Mojave Desert in California they estimated
to be between 11,000 and 12,000 years old.
