An international team of scientists recently shared details about a tree that has lived for 1,075 years.
The average life expectancy of humans in the U.S. is close to 80 years. Many plant and animal species, on the other hand, live a lot longer.
An international team of scientists recently shared details about a tree that has lived for a long time - a very very long time.
A Stockholm University press release notes, "A Bosnian pine (Pinus heldreichii) growing in the highlands of northern Greece has been dendrocronologically dated to be more than 1075 years old. This makes it currently the oldest known living tree in Europe."
To put things in perspective, the tree was a seedling in 941 when Byzantine Empire was at its peak. In order to determine its age, the researchers took a core of wood from the outer edge to its center and found 1,075 annual rings.
The team is hoping to gain valuable insights into past environmental and climatic conditions by studying trees such as this one.
Paul J. Krusic, the lead researcher, noted, "I am impressed, in the context of western civilization, all the human history that has surrounded this tree; all the empires, the Byzantine, the Ottoman, all the people living in this region. So many things could have led to its demise. Fortunately, this forest has been basically untouched for over a thousand years"
