Oldest Things on Earth

11 Dec,2023

Credit: Google Images

The Omo remains are the oldest human — or Homo sapien — fossils. They were discovered in Ethiopia at the Omo-Kibish archaeological sites in the 1960s. These remains are around 233,000 years old and originate from the Middle Pleistocene.

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Omo Remains: Oldest Human Fossils

While there are many dinosaur fossils, Nyasasaurus Parringtoni is one of the oldest things on Earth and is commonly believed to be the oldest dinosaur ever discovered. Found in Tanzania, this dinosaur most likely died on the Pangean continent. It is from the Triassic Period, around 243 million years ago.

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Nyasasaurus Parringtoni Fossil: Oldest Dinosaur Fossil

A small mountain range in South Africa called the Makhonjwa Mountains is the oldest in the world. They formed about 3.6 billion years ago. They’re part of the Barberton Greenstone Belt, which contains some of the oldest exposed rock on earth.

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Makhonjwa Mountains: Oldest Mountain Range on Earth

LUCA stands for “Last Universal Common Ancestor,” and it refers to the single-celled organism that gave birth to all life that has existed on the planet. This ancestor was the first capable of transmitting copied DNA to progeny. LUCA is believed to have existed up to 3.8 billion years ago.

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LUCA: Oldest Common Ancestor

The oldest mineral on the planet is small filamentary crystals called zircons from the Jack Hills of Western Australia. While you can find zircons around the globe, the zircons in this specific location are the oldest. They are around 4.3 billion years old, making them the oldest mineral on the planet.

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Zircon Crystals: Oldest Mineral on Earth

The Murchison meteorite landed in 1969 in Australia. It contains dust that pre-dates the creation of the solar system. This meteorite’s bits of stardust originate from the cloud that formed the solar system. 

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Murchison Meteorite: Oldest Dust on Earth

The last of our list, hydrogen is the most abundant of the three Earth elements that emerged during the Big Bang. The other two elements are lithium and helium. This makes hydrogen, helium, and lithium a trio of elements as old as time itself. All other elements are a result of the alteration of these formative elements.

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Hydrogen, Helium, and Lithium Atoms: Oldest Elements on Earth