飛躍系列拼圖介紹

METHUSELAH, THE OLDEST TREE  ~2850

Methuselah (estimated germination 2832 BC) is a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva) in the White Mountains of California, which was 4,789 years old when sampled in 1957 by Schulman and Harlan. It is the oldest known non-clonal organism still alive, at the age of about 4,841 years old. It is the oldest known individual tree in the world. Other discoveries are clonal organisms, such as the 9,500 year old Norway spruce clonal colony known as Old Tjikko in Swede.

The tree is named after Methuselah, a Biblical figure reputed to have lived 969 years. Located in the "Forest of Ancients" in the Methuselah Grove at between 2,900–3,000 m above sea level, its exact location is currently undisclosed to the public as a protection against vandalism.

An older specimen, WPN-114 and nicknamed Prometheus, was more than 4,844 years old when cut down in 1964 (estimated germination date 2880 BC). Another tree, approximately 4,600 years old, is still living. A dendrochronology, based on these trees and other bristlecone pine samples, extends back to about 9000 BC, albeit with a single gap of about 500 years. (click to see all the article on Wikipedia)

最早的樹-瑪土撒拉  ～西元前2千8百5十年 

瑪土撒拉(估計萌芽於公元前2832年)是一株大盆地狐尾松(刺果松)，位於加州的懷特山脈，其為舒特曼與哈蘭於西元1957年採樣而定年，約有4789歲。

其為至今仍存活之最古老的非複製(克隆)生物，約有4841歲。其為世界上已知最古老的單一株大樹。其他發現的複製(克隆)生物，像是9500歲在瑞典的挪威雲杉克隆群落，被稱為老提可(Old Tjikko)。

用以為這樹命名的瑪土撒拉，其為聖經中的一個人物，據稱活了969年。瑪土撒拉叢集位於海拔2900-3000公尺的”古代之林”中，為了防止人為破壞，其正確位置並未公諸於世。

一個更老的樣本WPN-114，暱稱為普羅米修斯，在西元1964年削下與定年，年齡高達4844歲(估計萌芽於公元前2880年)。另一棵樹，估計約4600歲，還存活著。基於這些樹木以及其他狐尾松樣本的基礎上，一個樹木的年輪可追溯到公元前9000年左右，儘管這定年法具有單一單位為500年的誤差。

註1:複製(克隆):透過生物技術以無性生殖產生新個體  http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%8B%E9%9A%86

註2:老提可(Old Tjikko):可以追溯到更為古老年份的樹的克隆 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Tjikko (維基無中文)