What are the oldest living things in the world?
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Bobi has beaten the Guinness World Record for oldest living dog that has stood for a century
A 30-year-old dog living in Portugal has not only broken the record of the world's oldest dog, but is also the oldest dog that has ever lived!
The dog, called Bobi, is a purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo, a breed that normally lives to between 12 and 14 years old.
Bobi is said to being doing well for his age, which was confirmed as accurate by the Portuguese government's pet database.
The previous all time record holder was a dog called Bluey in Australia, who died in 1939 at the age of 29.
Part of the secret to Bobi's longevity is said to lie in the peaceful environment he lives in
Bobi's crowning as the oldest dog ever comes just two weeks after Guinness World Records named another dog, Spike the Chihuahua, as the oldest living dog - at 23 years old.
Don't worry, Spike is fine, it was just when the age of Bobi was verified, the record had to be updated.
Bobi's owner, Leonel Costa, has described the dog as "one of a kind" and says his long life has been helped by the "calm, peaceful environment" he lives in.
World's oldest cat
Guinness World Records shared this pic of Flossie on their social media feed
Flossie the cat was born in 1995, and recently turned 27 years old - that's about 120 in human years.
Flossie has had lots of families during her long life, and when her last owner couldn't look after her anymore she was handed into Cats Protection.
"We were flabbergasted when vet records showed her to be nearly 27," said Naomi Rosling from Cats Protection.
The world's oldest person
Maria Branyas
Mar铆a Branyas who lives in Spain is the world's oldest living person at the age of 115.
Mar铆a was born in America on 4 March 1907 and has lived through two world wars, had three children, has eleven grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren.
She became the world's oldest living person after the previous record holder, a French nun named Lucile Randon, died on 17 January, aged 118.
During her life, Mar铆a has enjoyed playing the piano, reading newspapers and exercised every morning until she was 105.
The UK's oldest person
Ethel Caterham is the UK's oldest person.
Born 21 August 1909, Ethel lives in Hampshire in the south of England and is 113 years old.
People who are older than 110 years are known as supercentenarians.
Oldest land animal
Jonathan the tortoise turns 190!
A giant tortoise called Jonathan is the oldest-known living land animal.
Jonathan is at least 190 years old and was born in 1832!
He lives on Saint Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic Ocean, where it's believe he arrived from the Seychelles 140 years ago.
Oldest living thing ever
Ming the clam was the oldest animal ever recorded and had been living on the seabed off the north coast of Iceland until it was scooped up in 2006 by researchers from Bangor University in Wales.
The researchers studied growth rings from Ming's shell and initially thought that the clam was aged between 405 and 410 years old. However, in 2013, using more sophisticated measuring techniques, they realised Ming's age was actually 507 years old.
And Ming might not be a one off.
Scientists believe there is a high probability that there are ocean clams that are even more ancient lurking beneath the sea bed.
- Published28 April 2022
