Posted on 04/24/2023 5:11:51 PM PDT by nickcarraway
In a forest in southern Chile, a giant tree has survived for thousands of years and is in the process of being recognized as the oldest in the world.
Known as the “Great Grandfather,” the trunk of this tree measuring 4 meters in diameter and 28 meters tall is also believed to contain scientific information that could shed light on how the planet has adapted to climatic changes.
Believed to be more than 5,000 years old, it is on the brink of replacing Methuselah, a 4,850-year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine found in California in the United States, as the oldest tree on the planet. “It’s a survivor, there are no others that have had the opportunity to live so long,” said Antonio Lara, a researcher at Austral University.The Great Grandfather lies on the edge of a ravine in a forest in the southern Los Rios region, 800 kilometers to the south of the capital Santiago. It is a Fitzroya cupressoides, a type of cypress tree that is endemic to the south of the continent.
(Excerpt) Read more at hurriyetdailynews.com ...
Nice!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.