What organism lives the longest on planet earth?

Question

Is it a plant?

Is it a Tree?

Is it Bacteria?

Just kinda interested to know!

Also how long can the organism live for?

Answer 1

Here are the top five, but I recall a fungus that was supposed to be older though I cannot find the reference right now.

1.) A huge strand of the sea grass Posidonia oceanica in the Mediterranean Sea could be up to 100,000 years of age.

2.) Pando (tree), this genet has been estimated to be 80,000 years old although some estimates place it as being as old as one million years.

3.) King's Lomatia: The sole surviving clonal colony of this species is estimated to be at least 43,600 years old.

4.).Eucalyptus recurva: clones are claimed to be 13,000 years old

5.) Creosote bush: a ring of bushes in the Mojave desert are estimated at 11,700 years old

Answer 2

I'd say anaerobic bateria can live a long time if no accident happens to them. That's because they don't breathe oxygen, hence they don't grow old by oxydation.

A group of scientists once found anaerobic bacteria as the sole inhabitants of a icy cave near the north pole; that sunbterranean area was reported to be isolated from the outer world (and sunlight) for thousands of years.

Now i'm sure more that many scholars could reply to this: "one day i've tested your miserable bacteria in a bottle full of with sulfuric acid and it died after three mere minutes". The problem is: bacteria aren't made for labs. Even some humans cannot stand long inside a university lab. Living organisms should be studied in their unaffected natural environment before they are judged in any kind of way.

Answer 3

The fungus is an Armillaria ostoyae or honey mushroom as it is more commonly known and it covers 10 square kilometers or about 1,600 football fields.

The fungus was discovered in 2000 when scientists were trying to figure out what was killing trees in the area and discovered the fungal culprit growing three feet below ground.

The fungus is estimated to be up to 8,500 years old.

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!

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.

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.

Answer 4

To manage which oraganisms can live longer, we have to take account of their living environment, like nutrient supply, predators, natural disaster etc.

I think cockcroach is a nasty animal which can survive in extreme condition(like ppl above describe) but they don't have long life span. Primarily because they would be killed by predators in food chain, like human lol.

> Among ANIMAL, giant tortoise may has the longest life
span, aproximately 177 years. They have big hard shell for
protection, so they don't need to really run away from
predetors, hence they have low metabolic rate, longer life
span.
> Among PLANTS, Bristlecone pines found in White
Mountains in California have the longest life span so far,
estimated to be 4725 yrs old.
> Bacteria diveded rapidly to formed many daughter cells but
for a single bacteria, their life span is short, maybe hours,
days or week only. So definitely not bacteria.

So, maybe plant (4725 yrs). They can make their own food from the natural resources, not rely on others and not much predators in food chain.

Answer 5

A Red Sequoya can live pretty long, but the longest living organism (if you can call it living) is called the Water Bear. They can put themselves into suspended animation and upon being dehydrated, no matter how long ago they went into suspended animation, they will come back to life.

Hope this helps!

Answer 6

Lichens and plants are notoriously long-lived. Lichen will live as long as there is moisture and a place to attach and feed from the soil.
The century plant is well-known for surviving many, many years in a dormant state; then when it rains, it comes to life again.
Trees have lived for thousands of years, like the famous oak in Britain that's been around since recorded history.

Answer 7

Fungus

a single spore can produce an organism of thousands of square metres in size, which will live for as long as it is allowed to. I believe there is a fungal growth in the Black Forrest in Germany which would have been around at the end of the last ice age, so about 10,500 years old.

Answer 8

Cockroach survived even after that great asteroid hitted our earth. Its the longest living organism on earth. About 1 billion years ago I guess.

Answer 9

There are some trees that are estimated to be thousands of years old, although nobody really knows the answer to this question. Some sharks may have been around for thousands of years as well.

Answer 10

It's the giant tortoise. Some of them live for up to a 150 years. What's worse is that I think they hold grudges too.

:-)

Psych! I think it's really It is 'King Clone', a Creosote plant living in West California, estimated to be 11,600 years old.