# What is the oldest thing that ever lived? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 22, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-thing-that-ever-lived/450292 "2008-05-22T21:38:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-thing-that-ever-lived/450292/1 "2008-05-22T21:38:53Z")
Not the oldest thing currently living, but the oldest known type of lifeform. Thanks, Rob ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-thing-that-ever-lived/450292/2 "2008-05-22T21:47:03Z")
How’s a [9,550 year-old tree](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080414-oldest-tree.html)? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-thing-that-ever-lived/450292/3 "2008-05-22T21:50:58Z")
> [@](#): > > WEST CHESTER, Pennsylvania (CNN) – Biologists have successfully revived a bacterium after it apparently remained dormant for 250 million years encased in a salt crystal, according to a report released Wednesday. > > If confirmed, the ancient bacteria would earned the title of oldest living life form ever found. The previous record-holder was a bacterium living inside a bee that had been encased in amber for 25 million to 40 million years. Source: [CNN - October 2000](http://archives.cnn.com/2000/NATURE/10/18/oldest.microbe/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-thing-that-ever-lived/450292/4 "2008-05-22T21:56:28Z")
No, not something that is currently alive, but the oldest known organism we can classify. It can be extinct. Thanks, Rob ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-thing-that-ever-lived/450292/5 "2008-05-22T21:57:56Z")
He’s asking what is the EARLIEST lifeform we know about, if I’m understanding him correctly. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-thing-that-ever-lived/450292/6 "2008-05-22T21:58:20Z")
I wonder what kind of awesome senior discount a 250 million year old bacterium gets? I know you weren’t necessarily looking for something still living, I just thought 9,550 was a reasonable start-point for old things. Clearly, I was a bit short of the mark. 😉 ETA: Oh! Thanks, **JayJay** , I was reading the question as “what’s the longest lifespan any organism has ever had?” ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-thing-that-ever-lived/450292/7 "2008-05-22T21:58:50Z")
In other words what is the first life form known to exit on this planet? ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-thing-that-ever-lived/450292/8 "2008-05-22T22:01:09Z")
Scientists have no idea for sure, but they’re guessing that the microbes that live inside the Earth’s crust have lifetimes on the order of 100,000 years. Everything those microbes do is eternally slow. ---
**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-thing-that-ever-lived/450292/9 "2008-05-22T22:02:07Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] In other words what is the first life form known to exit on this planet? [/QUOTE] The first know species, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-thing-that-ever-lived/450292/10 "2008-05-22T22:03:02Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] In other words what is the first life form known to exit on this planet? [/QUOTE] Unfortunately, in the spirit of “Thread’s title dictates its topic”, the OP’s actual intent will be ignored 😛 ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-thing-that-ever-lived/450292/11 "2008-05-22T22:05:58Z")
[QUOTE=Alex\_Dubinsky] Scientists have no idea for sure, but they’re guessing that the microbes that live inside the Earth’s crust have lifetimes on the order of 100,000 years. Everything those microbes do is eternally slow. [/QUOTE] And are now apparently working at the DMV. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-thing-that-ever-lived/450292/12 "2008-05-22T22:36:30Z")
The earliest life we have fossil record of are the [Apex Cherts](http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/slidesets/marslife/slide_31.html), these are bacteria that lived 3.5 billion years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-thing-that-ever-lived/450292/13 "2008-05-23T01:33:40Z")
[QUOTE=Alex\_Dubinsky] Scientists have no idea for sure, but they’re guessing that the microbes that live inside the Earth’s crust have lifetimes on the order of 100,000 years. Everything those microbes do is eternally slow. [/QUOTE] Could I have a cite on what you’re talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-thing-that-ever-lived/450292/14 "2008-05-23T05:24:26Z")
[QUOTE=griffin1977] The earliest life we have fossil record of are the [Apex Cherts](http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/slidesets/marslife/slide_31.html), these are bacteria that lived 3.5 billion years ago. [/QUOTE] The cherts themselves are somewhat metamorpohosed sedimentary rocks. They contain microscopic evidence of, and possibly were laid down by, the bacteria in question. Somewhat younger but still earlier pre-Cambrian in date are the earliest reef-building cyanophytes (FKA blue-green algae, something of a misnomer). Google the term _stromatolite_ for some interesting background on these early prokaryotes, which still exist and build reefs, albeit in very restricted areas these days. There’s some evidence to suggest that the iron-bearing sediments of the Minnesota, Upper Peninsula, and Wisconsin “ranges” were laid down by another group of bacteria, now probably extinct. Probably the earliest evidence of eukaryotes, creatures with a normal nucleated organelle-bearing cell, are the _acritarchs_, from about one billion years ago forward. The earliest macrobiotes (plants or animals visible to the naked eye) would be from Vendian times, ca. 700 million years ago, just prior to the Cambrian. In addition to the relatively famous _Ediacara fauna_, there are several deposits in Russia near the Urals (the period name derives from one such deposit). ---
**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-thing-that-ever-lived/450292/15 "2008-05-23T13:07:21Z")
I read somewhere that when cyanophytes first appeared, they swept all life before them. Are the chert microfossils examples of these organisms? Do we know anything about them other than they existed? Do we know when they first appeared? I also understand that the cataclysm that produced the moon would have obliterated any life that existed on earth prior to that time. Do we have any evidence that anything existed then? Thanks, Rob ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-thing-that-ever-lived/450292/16 "2008-05-23T19:13:29Z")
[QUOTE=NajaNivea] I wonder what kind of awesome senior discount a 250 million year old bacterium gets? [/QUOTE] Nearly microscopic. 😃