Last week, I introduced you to the wondrous Humongous Fungus. This week, I’d like to introduce you to some of the Earth’s other ancient and giant inhabitants.

Meet Pando, Earth’s Most Ancient Clone

This grove, nicknamed the "Trembling Giant," weighs about 13 million pounds and may be Earth's oldest living organism. Though Pando, as it’s known, appears to be a forest of quaking aspens (Populus tremuloides), each “tree” is a stem sprouting from one massive root system.

Fun fact: The species' nickname comes from its leaves' distinctive quiver in the slightest breeze.

Scientists estimate Pando first took root 80,000 years ago, during the last ice age. The organism — whose Latin name means "I spread" — began as a single male tree that cloned itself repeatedly. Researchers confirmed this was one organism in the 1990s, though its exact age remains uncertain.

Recent decades have threatened this ancient giant in Utah's Fishlake National Forest. Drought, human development and overgrazing prevent new clones from maturing to replace dead stems. While Pando still lives, its future depends on enhanced conservation efforts

A Giant Under the Sea

Depending on how you measure, a seagrass meadow in Shark Bay off Western Australia’s coast may be the world’s largest organism. Measuring roughly 112 miles across, in 2022, researchers with the University of Western Australia declared it the largest single organism in the world, by area.

Just as scientists used DNA analysis to identify other massive organisms like Pando and the Humongous Fungus, genetic testing revealed the true nature of this ancient seagrass. But what makes this specimen particularly fascinating is its unusual genetic makeup. The plant is what biologists call a polyploid mutant, meaning it carries multiple duplicate sets of chromosomes. This genetic doubling likely occurred when one of its ancestors hybridized with a related species, giving it twice the genetic diversity of a typical Posidonia australis plant. Much like a mule – which is sterile due to being a hybrid between a horse and donkey – this seagrass cannot reproduce sexually. Instead, it has spent roughly 4,500 years spreading through clonal reproduction, creating genetic copies of itself across the seafloor.

While land-based cousin Pando has struggled to adapt to modern environmental pressures, this marine giant has demonstrated remarkable resilience. When a severe heatwave in 2010-2011 destroyed about one-third of its total mass, the seagrass managed to recover and regenerate, showcasing the surprising adaptability that has helped it thrive for millennia in its underwater home.

These ancient giants make us rethink what we mean when we talk about a single living thing. Take Pando — it's been spreading its roots through the Earth for 80,000 years, longer than human civilization has existed. And that Shark Bay seagrass? It figured out how to double up its chromosomes to survive in some pretty harsh ocean conditions.

When you look at how these organisms have stuck around for so long, using clever tricks like cloning themselves and shuffling their genes around, you start to see just how creative nature can be when it comes to survival.

Thanks for Reading Feed Your Curiosity!

I'm Bryan M. Vance, a writer who hunts down stories that make people say "wait, really?" Each month, I share fascinating tales about our wonderfully weird world — from mind-bending scientific discoveries to bizarre historical footnotes that time forgot.

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