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Trunk of the Great Grandfather in Chile. (Martin Bernetti/AFP) 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 four meters (13 feet) 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...

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...

The branches of Earth's oldest tree probably waved in the breeze like a modern palm, scientists said on Wednesday, based on two intact tree fossils that help explain the evolution of forests and their influence on climate. The 385-million-year-old fossils, which scientists believe are evidence of Earth's earliest forest trees, put to rest speculation about fossilized tree stumps discovered more than a century ago in Gilboa, New York. Scientists believe these early forests absorbed carbon dioxide, cooling the Earth's surface. The forests were flourishing at an important juncture in the history of life of Earth, coming shortly before the appearance...