A group of British and North American researchers claim to have found the oldest forest on record. They believe that this ancient forest, located in New York State, United States of AmericaIt has been around since at least the time of the dinosaurs.
Although it was already known that there was an ancient forest in the Cairo area, in New York State, the exact age of the plants and trees that composed it was not known. BBC.
For the first time, a team of researchers from Binghamton University (USA) and Cardiff (Wales) has analyzed plant fossils to calculate the age of the forest. They also believe that this grove of trees reached more than 400 kilometers long.
The researchers used paleobotanical techniques (the study of ancestral plants) to map the forest – work that began in 2019. Upon analyzing various plant fossils, they concluded that this was the oldest forest on Earth (so far).
They also discovered that the trees that lived in this area did not reproduce in the same way as today's trees. Instead of spreading seeds – as happens today – the ancestral trees in this forest reproduce by releasing spores – a technique currently used by some fungi, such as Mushrooms.
