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11-02-2022, 11:35 AM
Richard Stenger, CNN • Updated 10th February 2022
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WILD HERB: Approximately 3,000 years
![[Image: http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.cnn.com%2Fcnnnext%2Fdam...yareta.jpg]](https://dynaimage.cdn.cnn.com/cnn/q_auto,w_634,c_fill,g_auto,h_357,ar_16:9/http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.cnn.com%2Fcnnnext%2Fdam%2Fassets%2F191126102902-06b-oldest-living-things-yareta.jpg)
The Yareta or llareta, bright green blobs that resemble moss-covered boulders, are actually flowering shrubs perfectly designed to withstand the high-altitude conditions of the Andes Mountains in Peru, Bolivia, northern Chile and western Argentina.
Wind, freezing temperatures and drought prove no match for Azorella compacta, a wild, inedible relative of parsley and fennel, which slowly and methodically ekes out an existence, growing as little as one meter a century.
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LIVING ANIMAL: Approximately 15,000 years
![[Image: http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.cnn.com%2Fcnnnext%2Fdam...oubini.jpg]](https://dynaimage.cdn.cnn.com/cnn/q_auto,w_634,c_fill,g_auto,h_357,ar_16:9/http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.cnn.com%2Fcnnnext%2Fdam%2Fassets%2F191126110001-10-oldest-living-things-anoxycalyx-joubini.jpg)
The volcano sponges of Antarctica, Anoxycalyx joubini, are whitish blobs that resemble giant beer barrels or miniature volcanoes. They pepper the chilly waters around McMurdo Sound and their estimated age is based on the sheer size of the sponges, which only grow a tiny bit each year.
They thrive in depths from 50 to 500 feet
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LAND FOREST: Approximately 80,000 years
The Trembling Giant of Utah consists of almost 50,000 quaking aspen trees, but the entire grove of Populus tremuloides is genetically identical and shares a single root system, making it technically a single organism.
This clonal colony of an individual male is also known as Pando, Latin for "I Spread Out," which it sure does, covering more than 100 acres.
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SEA FOREST: Approximately 200,000 years
A sprawling sea grass meadow ten miles long near Spain ranks as the oldest known single organism on Earth, according to geneticists.
Posidonia oceanica, known as Neptune's grass, is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. But a patch near the island of Formentera, self-cloned like Pando, stands out for its age, estimated at 200,000 years.
More oldest living things at: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/o...index.html
......
WILD HERB: Approximately 3,000 years
The Yareta or llareta, bright green blobs that resemble moss-covered boulders, are actually flowering shrubs perfectly designed to withstand the high-altitude conditions of the Andes Mountains in Peru, Bolivia, northern Chile and western Argentina.
Wind, freezing temperatures and drought prove no match for Azorella compacta, a wild, inedible relative of parsley and fennel, which slowly and methodically ekes out an existence, growing as little as one meter a century.
......
LIVING ANIMAL: Approximately 15,000 years
The volcano sponges of Antarctica, Anoxycalyx joubini, are whitish blobs that resemble giant beer barrels or miniature volcanoes. They pepper the chilly waters around McMurdo Sound and their estimated age is based on the sheer size of the sponges, which only grow a tiny bit each year.
They thrive in depths from 50 to 500 feet
......
LAND FOREST: Approximately 80,000 years
The Trembling Giant of Utah consists of almost 50,000 quaking aspen trees, but the entire grove of Populus tremuloides is genetically identical and shares a single root system, making it technically a single organism.
This clonal colony of an individual male is also known as Pando, Latin for "I Spread Out," which it sure does, covering more than 100 acres.
......
SEA FOREST: Approximately 200,000 years
A sprawling sea grass meadow ten miles long near Spain ranks as the oldest known single organism on Earth, according to geneticists.
Posidonia oceanica, known as Neptune's grass, is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. But a patch near the island of Formentera, self-cloned like Pando, stands out for its age, estimated at 200,000 years.
More oldest living things at: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/o...index.html
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