First of all, the LA Times changed the title from when I originally posted it. The first title they used was stupid quite frankly.

Second, under "sharelines", there are two headlines they suggest using when sharing the story. I picked one. I can't believe you guys are seriously having a problem with it. It describes the story well.

Third, from what I heard when first getting into this story, it WAS the oldest known living organism on Earth. Since then they have found older "things", and having found the Prometheus tree, they have found older tree(s) as well looking in the same area as well as areas that have the same general living conditions.

Fourth, I'm sharing a link, not writing a freaking thesis. I'm glad at least someone on this thread bothered to find out about this story because it's fascinating.

Fifth, for those who are more interested in the story than semantics about titles, there is a hero, Mike Drakulich, from the Parks Service who refused to cut down the tree. He even took his chainsaw with him because he didn't want them to cut it down. They found another Park Ranger to do it the next day. I met Mike's daughter at the memorial. It was quite touching. Here's another version of that story. (Not all accounts say the exact same thing btw): http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/816442-196/daily-twip---...