World's oldest forest 'seen by dinosaurs' found right outside of NYC

14 January 2024 , 17:57

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The forest is in a picturesque part of the Catskill Mountains, quite close to New York city (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Scientists say they have discovered the world's oldest forest at the bottom of a quarry just a short drive from New York and they think it could be up to 385 million years old.

The existence of the forest was already known to the team, but this is the first time experts have carried out a proper investigation to look into the ages of plants and trees growing there. They said they found evidence of some very early plants, some of which would have been seen by dinosaurs.

The find was made near Cairo, in the Catskill Mountains, in 2009 and the team began mapping of the area five years ago. The teams, from the University of Binghamton and the University of Cardiff in Wales, think the forest used to spread around 400 kilometres, which is about 250 miles. By looking at the fossils of different plants and trees they found there, they discovered that it is the oldest forest found on Earth so far.

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The forest is in a picturesque part of the Catskill Mountains, quite close to New York city (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Christopher Berry, a paleobotanist at Cardiff University, told Science: "The Cairo site is very special. You are walking through the roots of ancient trees. Standing on the quarry surface we can reconstruct the living forest around us in our imagination." Berry and his colleagues have been examining plant and tree fossils in the area for years to help them confirm the forest's age.

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And unlike most of the trees in existence, the ancient trees seen in this forest would not have reproduced by releasing seeds that grow into a tree, instead using spores which would spread through the air in much the same way as fungi do.

Other extremely old forests include the Amazon rainforest, which is at least 55 million years old and the Yakushima Forest on a sub-tropical island off the southern coast of Japan. It is covered by an extensive cedar forest that contains some of Japan's oldest living trees, many of which are more than 1,000 years old.

However, anyone hoping to pay a visit to this new ancient forest site will have to wait a while as the quarry – which is owned by the Town of Cairo – is strictly reserved for scientific study, out of concern for preserving the area and any secrets it may still hold. The Cairo site isn’t the only extremely old find in the region though, with a forest site discovered in nearby Gilboa that gave up a huge range of fossils.

Paul Donald