Largest Living Organism Is A Fungus

Largest Living Organism Is A Fungus 66

Posted by michael on Friday March 28, 2003 @11:00PM from the as-long-as-it-isn't-among-us dept.

Makarand writes "A single enormous underground fungus found growing in a Canadian forest and estimated to between 2000 and 8500 years old could easily be the largest known living organism on earth. This fungus is believed to have begun its life as a microscopic spore and then grown to cover an area of around an area of 9.65 square kilometers. That it is a single organism was confirmed by collecting samples of the fungus from different parts of the forest and observing their reactions as they were grown together on Petri dishes. Fungal growths have the ability to distinguish their own growths from other fungal individuals."

Largest Living Organism Is A Fungus

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It thas been rumored.. (Score:3, Funny)

by ewhenn ( 647989 ) writes: on Friday March 28, 2003 @11:08PM (#5620680)

That the guiness book of world records is sponsoring an event to use it to attempt create the worlds largest pizza.

- Re:It thas been rumored.. (Score:3, Interesting)
  
  by Mysticalfruit ( 533341 ) writes:
  
  Forest managers may also want to consider which species to focus on during planting and harvesting. "When planting, they may want to introduce less susceptible trees--such as western larch, western white pine, and ponderosa pine--and harvest the more susceptible trees during thinning."
  
  I'm not a forest manager by any stretch of the imagination, but doesn't this seem wrong? So you come into forest that's been living in ecolibrium for thousands of years and decide... "Well, since were gonna be cutting lots o
Yes, but how many Volkswagen bugs... (Score:5, Funny)

by Ieshan ( 409693 ) writes: <ieshan@g[ ]l.com ['mai' in gap]> on Friday March 28, 2003 @11:12PM (#5620690) Homepage Journal

The article does give some very interesting statistics, but I'd be interested to know if any Astronomers can estimate how many Volkswagen Bugs this fungus might occupy...

whoa (Score:1)

by Sabbath.sCm ( 542240 ) writes:

Reminds me of those "IT came from below" old movies.
- Re:whoa (Score:2)
  
  by Smidge204 ( 605297 ) writes:
  
  Reminds me of the Super Mario Bros. Movie [geocities.com] :)
  
  *hangs head in shame for knowing that*
  =Smidge=
So, what did one moss say to another? (Score:2, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes:

"I heard you're a fun guy!'
- Re:So, what did one moss say to another? (Score:1)
  
  by turgid ( 580780 ) writes:
  
  No no no no no!
  Q: Why did the mushroom go to the party?
  A: Because he was a fun guy!
- Re:So, what did one moss say to another? (Score:2)
  
  by GypC ( 7592 ) writes:
  
  Errr...
  Since when is moss a fungus?
  - Re:So, what did one moss say to another? (Score:1, Funny)
    
    by Anonymous Coward writes:
    
    Since when is moss a fungus?
    Why, when it takes a lichen to you!
Um? (Score:4, Insightful)

by addaon ( 41825 ) writes: <(addaon+slashdot) (at) (gmail.com)> on Friday March 28, 2003 @11:18PM (#5620707)

Except of course the fact their method of verification worked at all invalidated it. After all, two separate, unattached pieces of tissue, even if taken the same creature, can hardly be considered to be the same organism. They may be genetically identical copies of each other, but they have the opportunity to develop separately. What verification is their that the giant fungus is not really a couple of dozen, slowly having developed and broken off from the original growth?

- Re:Um? (Score:1)
  
  by killenheladagen ( 461470 ) writes:
  
  What verification is their that the giant fungus is not really a couple of dozen, slowly having developed and broken off from the original growth?
  
  Does it have to be connected physically to be considered as one organism? Maybe it can exchange signal substances and show other behaviour indicating that it is one individual even if it is separated. Perhaps the earth it surrounds should be thought of as the blood vessels of this organism.
  - Re:Um? (Score:2)
    
    by addaon ( 41825 ) writes:
    
    Well, perhaps. But I doubt that it communicates even across intracellular distances. The bloody thing is a fungus. Are separate cells of yeast all a single individual?
    - Re:Um? (Score:5, Informative)
      
      by PurpleFloyd ( 149812 ) writes: <zeno20@@@attbi...com> on Saturday March 29, 2003 @05:23AM (#5621636) Homepage
      
      No, but separate cells in a mushroom or slime mold are. The important thing is that each cell can communicate with its neighbors, and has some role to play in a larger system. Also, it would have to communicate intracellularly, or it could never reproduce. That's the Central Dogma of molecular biology: DNA->RNA->proteins. Any organism which lacked intracellular communication would die almost immediately.
      Even assuming you meant "intercellular," however, the story mentioned that the cells responded differently towards each other than they did towards "outsiders." If this is the case, then the cells must have some form of communication with the outside world, and with each other. Ergo, it's a single organism, since the cells communicate. Whether it's a fungus doesn't matter; whether it has cells that communicate with each other does.
      
      - Spores (Score:1)
        
        by Muhammar ( 659468 ) writes:
        
        this fungus produces mashrooms with spores from which a clone of the original mashroom would grow.
        This Petri Dish test proves nothing.
        
        If you take a grapevine cuts and make a vineard on the opposite side of the valley - does it than follow that the Gallo vineries is the biggest living single organism in Napa?
      - Re:Um? (Score:2)
        
        by anthony_dipierro ( 543308 ) writes:
        
        The important thing is that each cell can communicate with its neighbors, and has some role to play in a larger system.
        
        Then why isn't an ant farm, or the city of New York, a single organism?
        
        Why not? (Score:2)
        
        by Hubert_Shrump ( 256081 ) writes:
        
        Too many legs.
Hmmm, time to go rent 'The Blob' (Score:1)

by ChadN ( 21033 ) writes:

I dig those 'blob' movies...
Isn't it a bit self-referential (Score:2)

by Mordant ( 138460 ) writes:

to be posting stories about CowboyNeal? ;>
Hah (Score:3, Informative)

by orangesquid ( 79734 ) writes: <orangesquid@nOspaM.yahoo.com> on Friday March 28, 2003 @11:24PM (#5620737) Homepage Journal

Well of course Windows XP is a fungus, what did you *think* it was? ;)

But anyway, here's another story, seemingly on the same growth:
Armillaria in Oregon [vgspc.com]
Here's some information about this type of fungus:
Armillaria tree growth [forestry.ca]

X-Files (Score:1)

by JLester ( 9518 ) writes:

Life really is imitating art. Didn't this thing drug and kidnap Mulder and Scully in an episode?

Jason
- Re:X-Files (Score:1)
  
  by jspoon ( 585173 ) writes:
  
  Not really. This study may be new, but this fungus has been known about and I've seen the basic story before several times over the past few years. Most likely, the X-Files episode was based on one of the earlier reports.
  Oops, as I RTFA, I see that this particular fungus wasn't discovered until 2001. I'm pretty sure the episode you're talking about was from before this. It must have been based on previous reports of biggest-organism-title-holding fungi like this [go.com][abcnews] one, which sites a monster fu
And everbody thinks... (Score:1)

by sprzepiora ( 160561 ) writes:

us Americans are going to take over the world :)
The fungus... (Score:2, Funny)

by SixArmedJesus ( 513025 ) writes:

"Look Mario! I think the fungus is trying to help us!"
- Re:The fungus... (Score:1)
  
  by The Zody ( 635829 ) writes:
  
  that movie was so bad i blacked it out...i now curse you for reminding me of the horror.
  - Re:The fungus... (Score:1)
    
    by SixArmedJesus ( 513025 ) writes:
    
    What? I don't understand. That was a great movie! How could you even begin to black it out? *snicker*
Perhaps... (Score:1)

by DarkKnightRadick ( 268025 ) writes:

...It's an alien shroom trying to get us all high so it's masters can take over the world? Or perhaps it was created by the Brain (if you don't get the refrence, just laugh)?
- Re:Perhaps... (Score:1)
  
  by JET 666 ( 28153 ) writes:
  
  Pinky and the Brain, Pinky and the Brain, and the Brain Brain Brain Brain Brain
I'm sorry in advance (Score:1)

by Descartes ( 124922 ) writes:

Imagine a beowulf cluster of these!

Seriously though, I know it sounds a little crazy but I wonded if this thing has any sort of rudimentary intelligence. I mean if it is 8500 years old it seems like it would have time to figure something out. I suppose it would need nerves though....
Aspen Trees (Score:3, Interesting)

by asdfx ( 446164 ) writes: on Saturday March 29, 2003 @12:47AM (#5621070) Homepage

It was my understanding that the largest living organism may be an Aspen forest. Aspens reproduce through runners, so it is possible that an entire aspen forest can actually be one organism. I'm sure you can find aspen forests larger than 10 square kilometers, but of course there could be many different plants there. I wouldn't be surprised, however, if it were the oldest.

Holy shite (Score:1)

by dacarr ( 562277 ) writes:

That's one hell of a mushroom. Wonder if it's edible.
Canadian Fungus (Score:1)

by hugecrow ( 311366 ) writes:

about the size of 6000 hockey rinks....

nice!
Standard units people! (Score:4, Funny)

by Sentry21 ( 8183 ) writes: on Saturday March 29, 2003 @01:56AM (#5621257) Journal

From the article:

The clone of Armillaria ostoyae--the tree-killing fungus that causes Armillaria root disease--covers an area of 9.65 square kilometres, about the size of 6000 hockey rinks or 1600 football fields.

Talk about frustrating. Hockey rinks? Football fields? I thought the standard unit of area was olympic-sized swimming pools now. Can journalists just not keep up?

--Dan

- Re:Standard units people! (Score:1)
  
  by Baikala ( 564096 ) writes:
  
  The "9.65 square kilometres" is your standar unit, americans, brits and ausies are the only ones not using the metric system.
  - Re:Standard units people! (Score:1)
    
    by Doctor-T ( 597635 ) writes:
    
    Im sorry? Us Australians have been using the metric system for quite some time now.
  - Re:Standard units people! (Score:2)
    
    by Sentry21 ( 8183 ) writes:
    
    You must be a thrill at parties. It was a joke. I'm Canadian, we use metric. Sheesh.
    
    --Dan
- Re:Standard units people! (Score:1)
  
  by Radish03 ( 248960 ) writes:
  
  I thought Hockey rinks would be a given for a unit of measuring area. It is Canada, after all. If there were a way to measure area using lumberjacks, I'm sure they'd have used it too.
- Volume (Score:1)
  
  by Cyno01 ( 573917 ) writes:
  
  Olympic sized swimming pool is a mesure of volume, as in "could fill an olympic sized swimming pool...". In this case both the American (football fields) and Canadian (hockey rinks) units for area were used.
Oh crap! (Score:2)

by ApharmdB ( 572578 ) writes:

Quick! Someone call Steve McQueen! [imdb.com]
oldest? (Score:2)

by GiMP ( 10923 ) writes:

"estimated to between 2000 and 8500 years old"

That is quite old. Without bothering to research, I'd reckon that there aren't many living organisms older than that either.
- Re:oldest? (Score:1)
  
  by eht ( 8912 ) writes:
  
  I thought the sequoias in Californioa might be older but looks like I was wrong [att.net] according to a quick google search.
  
  "the oldest authenticated age of a downed tree is about 3,200 years"
  
  Amoebas can sometimes be considered very old, as all they do is consume split consume split consume, they don't really die.
  - Re:oldest? (Score:1)
    
    by BlueFashoo ( 463325 ) writes:
    
    Try looking at the bristlecone pine. The oldest known one is Methuselah at 4,767 years old. There was an older one named Prometheus, but some jackass cut it down.
    
    http://www.sonic.net/bristlecone/intro.html
- Creosote bush (Score:2)
  
  by Bowling Moses ( 591924 ) writes:
  
  The current record holder is a creosote bush in the Mojave Desert at nearly 11,700 years old [bbc.co.uk]. Well, technically the creosote bush only lives ~100 years but the current bushes are clones growing in a huge ring that are descended from the original plant, as the article says.
isn't this an american fungus / forest? (Score:3, Informative)

by ndevice ( 304743 ) writes: on Saturday March 29, 2003 @04:15AM (#5621523)

it could be just me, but the way I read the article was that the fungus was discovered in an OREGON forest, and the data was collected by the USDA. Does anyone want to tell me where there's an Oregon in Canada?

Of course, the poster might not have read the article carefully and just sourced it as Ottawa, Ontario, taken from the first line.

Yes, but what about the DNA (Score:2)

by smoondog ( 85133 ) writes:

In my humble opinion, it is the DNA that consitutes a single organism. Each cell should have basically the same genetic structure, if they don't, they aren't the same organism.

-Sean
- Re:Yes, but what about the DNA (Score:2)
  
  by g4dget ( 579145 ) writes:
  
  But the reverse isn't true: two entities can have identical DNA and still be distinct organisms--think identical twins.
  - Re:Yes, but what about the DNA (Score:2)
    
    by smoondog ( 85133 ) writes:
    
    Sure, but this would be an easy test...
    
    -Sean
  - Re:Yes, but what about the DNA (Score:1)
    
    by Boy Jenius ( 611557 ) writes:
    
    Or clones!
It used to be a fungus, now it's a bigger fungus (Score:4, Informative)

by DeadSea ( 69598 ) writes: on Saturday March 29, 2003 @07:43AM (#5621822) Homepage Journal

I recall having read about the discovery of a huge fungus several year ago [mold-help.org]. That one must have been a different organism as the page I linked to says its in Oregon. Interestingly, this page [www.uwo.ca] gives credit for the largest fungus found in 1992 in Washington state.
At the time of the original large fungus discoveries, I recall that the largest living organism was considered to be a tree. Actually, grove of aspen trees [216.239.39.100] that all shared the same roots.
When the aspen trees were discovered, they replaced some giant sequoia [orst.edu] which had long been considered both the largest and fastest growing organism on earth.

Canadian/American unit conversion (Score:4, Funny)

by jakedata ( 585566 ) writes: on Saturday March 29, 2003 @08:44AM (#5621873)

This article shed some light on a different subject as well.

The typical American unit of area, the football field converts to the Canadian (metric?) unit of area, the hockey rink with a ratio of 6000hr/1600ff or 3.75 to 1

Very helpful information.

There's only one? (Score:1)

by anthony_dipierro ( 543308 ) writes:

Does this mean the fungus will be put on the endangered species list?
hm, ok... (Score:2)

by C21 ( 643569 ) writes:

yeah, yeah, it's the largest fungus in the world, but does it smell worse than the fungus growing under my arms?
Fungus (Score:1)

by yet another coward ( 510 ) writes:

There's a fungus among us, and it's humungous.
Ever see that movie Phatoms? (Score:2)

by Rooked_One ( 591287 ) writes:

it was sort of the same thing. Intresting that he sort of "foresaw" something like that.
- Re:But does it compare to the one at Redmond ... (Score:1)
  
  by usotsuki ( 530037 ) writes:
  
  Borg!!!
  
  -uso.

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It thas been rumored.. (Score:3, Funny)

Re:It thas been rumored.. (Score:3, Interesting)

Yes, but how many Volkswagen bugs... (Score:5, Funny)

whoa (Score:1)

Re:whoa (Score:2)

So, what did one moss say to another? (Score:2, Funny)

Re:So, what did one moss say to another? (Score:1)

Re:So, what did one moss say to another? (Score:2)

Re:So, what did one moss say to another? (Score:1, Funny)

Um? (Score:4, Insightful)

Re:Um? (Score:1)

Re:Um? (Score:2)

Re:Um? (Score:5, Informative)

Spores (Score:1)

Re:Um? (Score:2)

Why not? (Score:2)

Hmmm, time to go rent 'The Blob' (Score:1)

Isn't it a bit self-referential (Score:2)

Hah (Score:3, Informative)

X-Files (Score:1)

Re:X-Files (Score:1)

And everbody thinks... (Score:1)

The fungus... (Score:2, Funny)

Re:The fungus... (Score:1)

Re:The fungus... (Score:1)

Perhaps... (Score:1)

Re:Perhaps... (Score:1)

I'm sorry in advance (Score:1)

Aspen Trees (Score:3, Interesting)

Holy shite (Score:1)

Canadian Fungus (Score:1)

Standard units people! (Score:4, Funny)

Re:Standard units people! (Score:1)

Re:Standard units people! (Score:1)

Re:Standard units people! (Score:2)

Re:Standard units people! (Score:1)

Volume (Score:1)

Oh crap! (Score:2)

oldest? (Score:2)

Re:oldest? (Score:1)

Re:oldest? (Score:1)

Creosote bush (Score:2)

isn't this an american fungus / forest? (Score:3, Informative)

Yes, but what about the DNA (Score:2)

Re:Yes, but what about the DNA (Score:2)

Re:Yes, but what about the DNA (Score:2)

Re:Yes, but what about the DNA (Score:1)

It used to be a fungus, now it's a bigger fungus (Score:4, Informative)

Canadian/American unit conversion (Score:4, Funny)

There's only one? (Score:1)

hm, ok... (Score:2)

Fungus (Score:1)

Ever see that movie Phatoms? (Score:2)

Re:But does it compare to the one at Redmond ... (Score:1)

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