PLANWOOD.COM

As far as we can tell,  the trees are just as mortal as we humans, although their lifespans tend to be somewhat longer than ours.

While it's a far cry from immortality, a Ancient Bristlecone Pine named "Methuselah" is said to be 4,766 years old, more than a thousand years older than any other living tree. The site describes the discovery of the tree in California's White-Inyo Mountains, the characteristics of bristlecone pines in general, and dendrochronology -- the science of dating trees by their rings.

It seems that Methuselah lost its crown as "oldest living thing" to a 9,000-year-old cluster of bushes in the Mojave desert, which was eventually dethroned by "40-million-year-old bacteria found in the stomach of an insect encased in amber."

But don't feel bad for Methuselah. In 1999 the 40-million-year-old germ was shown up by a 250-million-year-old bacteria found in ancient sea salt beneath Carlsbad, New Mexico. Now if that's not immortality, it's pretty darn close...