Some organisms can outlive humans by hundreds or even thousands of years, and the contender for Earth's oldest living thing ...

The only certainty is that Currey did have permission to cut down what was discovered to be the oldest tree on record. Now known as Prometheus, the tree was found to be nearly 5,000 years old.

The planet's trees have seen plenty of history pass by their trunks. In fact, they began to populate Earth 385 million years ago, toward the end of the Devonian period. Considered living historical ...