The African baobab is the biggest and longest-living angiosperm tree. By using radiocarbon dating we identified the stable architectures that enable baobabs to reach large sizes and great ages. We report that 9 of the 13 oldest and 5 of the 6 largest individuals have died, or at least their oldest parts/stems have collapsed and died, over the past 12 years; the cause of the mortalities is still unclear.The Romanian Ministry of National Education CNCS-UEFISCDI under grant PN-II-ID-PCE-2013-76 and by the Romanian Ministry of Research and Innovation CNCS-UEFISCDI under grant PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0776, no. 90/2017.http://www.nature.com/nplants2018-12-11hj2018Mammal Research Institut
