Science is Fun Fridays!

 

The oldest known marine plant has been discovered in the Baltic Sea, at 1400 years old.

This seagrass, known as eelgrass, produces ramets, an individual member of a clone that can separate and become capable of independence.

Genetic variation within these ramets can be used to age them, using a genetic clock.  As mutations occur they become fixed and accumulate in descendant ramets.  The clock compares the plant to the descendants and ages it based on their differences.

The team is continuing their study and expect to find even older seagrass.

This is all part of an ongoing effort in the scientific community to locate and document the oldest of living things before they're possibly gone forever.