Elder and eldest can only be used to speak of persons, not animals or things. Note that these two adjectives are now used only to talk about the members of the same family.

My eldest brother is in the Army. (NOT My oldest brother is in the Army.)
Alice is my elder sister. (NOT Alice is my older sister.)

Note that elder is not used with than. In cases where a comparison is made, we use older.

She is older than me. (NOT She is elder than me.)

Older and oldest can be used to speak of both persons and things.

He is older than me.
He is the oldest boy in the class.
This is the oldest church in Goa.

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