[jallanite]

Recall that there are also Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast, Sauron, one Balrog, the spirit of Caradhras, the nameless things who gnaw the earth and are unknown to Sauron for they are older than he. Goldberry is also a possible older being. Is her mother River-woman still alive? Is her father, the river Withywindle?

I agree that Tom must be classed with these rather than among the kelvar (fauna), and there is no question that he is older than Treebeard. He was there before the first tree and the first raindrop. This is not a contradiction to Treebeard being in Gandalf’s words: “the oldest living thing that still walks beneath the Sun upon this Middle-earth.” As magain has indicated, these other beings are not living creatures by virtue of being immortal and so none of them, including Tom, is in the running for “the oldest living thing that still walks beneath the Sun upon this Middle-earth.”