The Oldest Living Things in the World

The Oldest Living Things in the World, 1st Edition, presents Rachel Sussman's photographic work documenting continuously living organisms aged 2,000 years and older. Published by the University of Chicago Press, the book records specimens surviving across diverse global habitats.

Sussman combines research and field photography to examine ancient individuals on every continent. Featured subjects include Antarctic mosses, slow-growing Greenlandic lichens, and an 80,000-year-old aspen colony in Utah.

Intended for a trade audience, the volume blends personal travel accounts with scientific perspectives. It explores species longevity alongside risks stemming from climate change and human encroachment.