Is 9,550 Year Old World’s Oldest Living Tree ‘Discovery’ Disputable?
Sweden’s Umeå University in April announced the discovery of ‘the world’s oldest living tree’, a 9,550 year old spruce in the mountains of Dalarna province of the Nordic country.
Scientists discovered the 13 foot tall (4 meter tall) spruce growing at an altitude of 2,985 feet (910 meters) on Fulu Mountain but it is thought its roots actually sprouted just after the end of the last ice age, nearly 10,000 years ago, and the lone survivor has been cloning itself ever since.
The discovery effectively turned the tables on Methuselah, a bristlecone pine located in California’s White Mountains, which at 4,768 years old, was believed to be the oldest living tree around. Its species are known to live long - there are 4,000-year-old pine trees in North America.
