The trunk of this tree, known as the Great Grandfather, is believed to be four meters (13 ft) in diameter
"Great Grandfather" grows on the edge of a ravine in the forest in the southLos Rios, 800 km south of Santiago, the capital of Chile. The tree belongs to the species Fitzroya cupressoides, a species of cypress endemic to the south of the continent.
In recent years, tourists have flooded the forest totake a photo next to the new “oldest tree in the world.” Due to its growing fame, the national forestry authority has had to increase the number of park rangers and restrict access to protect the “great granddaddy.” In contrast, Methuselah's exact location is kept a secret.
Also known as Patagonian cypress, it isthe largest tree species in South America. It lives alongside other tree species such as coigu, plum pine and tepa, Darwin's frogs, lizards and birds such as the Chucao tapaculo and the Chilean hawk. Over the centuries, its thick trunk was cut down to build houses and ships, and in the 19th and 20th centuries this species was almost completely cut down.
Park ranger Anibal Enriquez discovered the tree.while patrolling the forest in 1972. He died of a heart attack 16 years later while patrolling the same forest on horseback. "He didn't want people and tourists to know where the tree was because he was sure of its value," said his daughter Nancy Enriquez, herself a park ranger. Enrique's nephew, Jonathan Baricivich, grew up playing among the Fitzroya cupressoides cypress trees and is now one of the scientists studying the species, reports Agence France-Presse.
In 2020, Barichivic and Lara managed to extracta sample from wood using the longest existing hand drill, but they never reached the center. They calculated that their sample was 2,400 years old and used a predictive model to calculate the full age of the tree.
According to Baricivicz's statement, "80% of the possible trajectories indicate that the tree is about 5,000 years old." He hopes to publish the results of the study soon.
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