The oldest living thing is younger than 4900 years
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Contents |
Claim
The oldest living thing (a bristlecone pine) is younger than 4900 years, supporting a recent date for a worldwide cataclysm.
Source
- Morris, Henry M., 1974. Scientific Creationism, Master Books, Arkansas, p. 193.
Responses
- This entire claim is no longer true. A living tree in Sweden is over 9,500 years old. [1]
- It is quite clear that the oldest living thing is significantly less old than the Earth's 4.5-gigayear age. What is not so clear, is why anyone thinks this disparity of ages is the least bit significant. Suppose John Doe is 20 years old: Must any house John lives in be 20 years old as well? If your answer to that question was "Of course not", you understand why this "proof" of a young Earth is silly and bogus.
- The age of the oldest living thing on Earth provides a minimum age for the Earth (provided it wasn't transplanted from some other location), but provides no maximum. If the oldest living thing were 7000 years old, and then it dies, then the next oldest living thing becomes the oldest surviving living thing.
- The oldest living thing was thought to be the creosote bush. One example of this plant is a ring of clones said to be 11,700 - 12,000 years old. Even older are 43,000 year old thickets of "King's Holly" clones.
- The age of the Pando clonal quaking aspen colony in Utah is given a minimum possible age of 80,000 years and a semi-reasonable maximum of 1,000,000 years. Yes, the entire clonal colony is technically a single organism. They are all connected through the roots, and are genetically identical. That's how quaking aspens propagate.
- add more responses
External Links
- Matson, Dave E., 1994. How Good Are Those Young-Earth Arguments? A Close Look at Dr. Hovind's List of Young-Earth Arguments and Other Claims. [2]
