Oldest Tree In The World Found: It's Called Great-Grandfather and Is 5,484 Years Old

Chilean scientists have identified a four-metre-thick Patagonian cypress known as the Great-Grandfather to be the world’s oldest living tree, beating the current record-holder by over 600 years.

'Symbols of resistence' This is about more than just a competition to enter the record books though, as the Great Grandfather is a font of valuable information. "There are many other reasons that give value and sense to this tree and the need to protect it," said Lara. There are very few thousands-years-old trees on the planet. "The ancient trees have genes and a very special history because they are symbols of resistence and adaptation. They are nature's best athletes," said Barichivich. "They are like an open book and we are like the readers who read every one of their rings," said Carmen Gloria Rodriguez, an assistant researcher at the dendrochronology and global change laboratory at Austral University. Those pages show dry and rainy years, depending on the width of the rings. Fires and earthquakes are also recorded in those rings, such as the most powerful tremor in history that hit this area in 1960. The Great Grandfather is also considered a time capsule that can offer a window into the past. "If these trees disappear, so too will disappear an important key about how life adapts to changes on the planet," said Barichivich. Watch video here: