- Category: Science & Technology
By Dean Irvine, CNN - (La Llareta #0308-23B26 Up to 3,000 years old. Atacama Desert, Chile) This llareta plant, parts of which are over 3000 years old, calls Chile's Atacama desert home. Llaretas can be found throughout the Andes in Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. A relative of parsley, its moss-like appearance belies thousands of flowering buds on long stems which are so densely packed together they can take the weight of a human.
Rachel Sussman is a time traveler. For the last few years, the American photographer has journeyed across the globe on a mission to bring back images of the world's oldest living organisms.
In her ongoing project, Sussman has traveled to the primal landscapes of southern Greenland, the timeless high-altitude Andean deserts of South America and even under the ocean.
Sagole Baobab #0707-1086 (2,000 years old. Limpopo Province, South Africa
"[The project] is a celebration and record of our past, a call to action now, and also a barometer of our future," she told CNN.
Sussman began her time-traveling trips in 2004 while visiting the island of Yakushima in Japan to see a reportedly 2,200-year-old tree. On her return to the U.S., the idea to photograph an example of other long-living ancient species germinated and grew.
Brain Coral #0210-4501 (2,000 years old. Speyside, Tobago) "It's been a fantastic learning experience and so unexpected," said Sussman. "[These organisms] have never been cataloged in this way; there isn't a global species longevity catalog."
They live where many other species couldn't even survive, let alone thrive.
Sussman's ancient organisms are continuously living and are genetically identical individuals.
Jomon Sugi, Japanese Cedar #0705-002 (2,180 to 7,000 years old. Yaku Shima, Japan So far, she has shot more than 25 different species of plant or organism, each being older than 2,000 years -- "I wanted to start with the idea of 'year zero' " -- with the oldest being actinobacteria from the permafrost of Siberia estimated to be around 500,000 years old...MORE...
