# Scientists may have found a living tree older than the Methuselah Pine **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 31, 2023, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-may-have-found-a-living-tree-older-than-the-methuselah-pine/995401 "2023-12-31T08:00:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2023, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-may-have-found-a-living-tree-older-than-the-methuselah-pine/995401/1 "2023-12-31T08:00:24Z")
Story: > **[Scientists make stunning discovery in remote forest: 'There are no others...](https://www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/oldest-tree-gran-abuelo-chile/)** > > Scientists working at Alerce Costero National Park in Chile believe they have found the oldest living tree in the world. Fascinating stuff, whether or not tests confirm the estimated age. However, the article does include a passing comment I find really depressing: the location of these ancient trees has to be kept secret from the public because otherwise people will destroy them. Oh well. It was a nice world while it lasted. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2023, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-may-have-found-a-living-tree-older-than-the-methuselah-pine/995401/2 "2023-12-31T08:07:18Z")
P.S. The location of this latest tree has been released, but only after a delay to get patrols and other defensive measures in place. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2023, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-may-have-found-a-living-tree-older-than-the-methuselah-pine/995401/3 "2023-12-31T14:50:24Z")
Will be interesting to see if it is older than Bristlecone pines. Said to live over 4000 years. Oldest one at 4,800 (as far as we know) There is a ‘grove’ of them close to me. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2023, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-may-have-found-a-living-tree-older-than-the-methuselah-pine/995401/4 "2023-12-31T15:07:51Z")
Don’t let any British teens near it. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2023, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-may-have-found-a-living-tree-older-than-the-methuselah-pine/995401/5 "2023-12-31T15:33:29Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > P.S. The location of this latest tree has been released, but only after a delay to get patrols and other defensive measures in place. Ugh. I never know whether to be angry at those who would despoil such natural wonders, or pity them, for their apparent inability to connect with the awe of being in contact with something greater than our myopic everyday concerns. This is I think best captured by Matthew Olzmann’s ‘[Letter to the Person Who Carved His Initials into the Oldest Living Longleaf Pine in North America](https://tinhouse.com/letter-to-the-person-who-carved-his-initials-into-the-oldest-living-longleaf-pine-in-north-america/)’. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2023, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-may-have-found-a-living-tree-older-than-the-methuselah-pine/995401/6 "2023-12-31T20:54:29Z")
Maybe we should cut it down and count the rings, just to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-may-have-found-a-living-tree-older-than-the-methuselah-pine/995401/7 "2024-01-01T00:16:34Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Oldest one at 4,800 (as far as we know) Yeah, that’s the “Methuselah Pine” mentioned in the OP. Though of course it’s a misnomer: Even Methuselah didn’t make it quite all the way to one millennium. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-may-have-found-a-living-tree-older-than-the-methuselah-pine/995401/8 "2024-01-01T00:35:46Z")
Will they drill out a core on this tree? It would be interesting to examine the ring history. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-may-have-found-a-living-tree-older-than-the-methuselah-pine/995401/9 "2024-01-01T01:17:46Z")
That is what the lore says, sometime in the 1950s or 1960s maybe. WPN-114, something like that. Someone broke the expensive, Swedish core drill bit, so naturally … they couldn’t wait. Cut it down to count rings. Bristlecone pine in Nevada/California. They already look pretty much dead even when they are alive. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-may-have-found-a-living-tree-older-than-the-methuselah-pine/995401/10 "2024-01-01T01:20:08Z")
That’s correct; WPN-114, also known as [Prometheus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_(tree)). I first heard the story on Radiolab. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-may-have-found-a-living-tree-older-than-the-methuselah-pine/995401/11 "2024-01-01T01:20:24Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > That is what the lore says, sometime in the 1950s or 1960s maybe. WPN-114, something like that. Someone broke the expensive, Swedish core drill bit, so naturally … they couldn’t wait. Cut it down to count rings. Bristlecone pine in Nevada/California. They already look pretty much dead even when they are alive. - It’s restin’. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-may-have-found-a-living-tree-older-than-the-methuselah-pine/995401/12 "2024-01-01T01:34:01Z")
It’s PINING. Get it, pining?     I’ll see myself out.