You Won’t Believe How Old These Are. Artist Captures Them for Posterity.

Brooklyn based artist Rachel Sussman has researched and collaborated with biologists and traveled to the world’s harshest climates to photograph the oldest living organisms on Earth before they disappear. Her work has been gathered in a new book called The Oldest Living Things in the World and details her adventures in tracking down each subject and relays the scientific work done by scientists to understand them.

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La Llareta (up to 3,000 years old; Atacama Desert, Chile)

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Spruce Gran Picea #0909 – 11A07 (9,550 years old; Fulufjället, Sweden)

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Welwitschia Mirabilis #0707-22411 (2,000 years old; Namib-Naukluft Desert, Namibia)

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Antarctic Moss #0212-7B33 (5,500 years old; Elephant Island, Antarctica)

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Jōmon Sugi, Japanese Cedar #0704-002 (2,180-7,000 years old; Yakushima, Japan

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Underground Forest #0707-10333 (13,000 years old; Pretoria South Africa) DECEASED