World's oldest forest discovered near New York by US scientists

The world's oldest forest has been discovered according to scientists from the University of Binghamton in the US and the University of Cardiff in Wales.

While knowledge of the forest's existence was known, it was only recently properly investigated in order to determine the age of the plants and trees growing there.

The forest had evidence of some very early plants being there - some of these plants would have even been seen by dinosaurs, says the BBC.

The scientists think the forest used to spread around 400 kilometres, which is about 250 miles.

How do you 'discover' an ancient forest?

The forest  was discovered at the bottom of a quarry in a place called Cairo, in the state of New York.

Scientists began mapping the area five years ago, in 2019.

By looking at the fossils of different plants and trees found in the area, they discovered that it's the oldest forest found on Earth so far. 

Other extremely old forests include the Amazon rainforest and the Yakushima Forest in Japan.

Their discovery involves the study of palaeobotany.

Paleo means old, or ancient, and botany is the study of plants - so it means studying ancient plants.

What plants do you find in an ancient forest?

Unlike most of the trees we see today, the ancient trees seen in this forest would not have reproduced by releasing seeds that grow into a tree.

Many of the fossilised trees found in this forest would have reproduced using spores.

You might recognise that word from learning about fungi - which spread around and multiply by sending spores into the air.