what is the largest living organism

[swmarsh]

what is the largest living organism

[Jay70]

At a guess The Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

[mjd]

I read some time ago that it was a fungus growing somewhere in Nothr America

[Lonnie]

mjd is right, it apparently is the 'Honey Mushroom'. www.extremescience.com/largestfungus.htm

[Lonnie]

The link never worked, but ccovers 2,200 sqr acres, crosses three county lines, and is estimated at being 2.400 years old.

[logman]

Most text books will tell you its the giant redwood (sequoiadendron giganteum) but i thik Lonnie is right with the honey fungus,most of it is actually underground. A more recent find i would guess..

[Sequin]

The barrier reef is not a single organism - it is a collection of many different organisms

[jurassicfive]

I feel I have to point out that it is not proven that this fungi is one organism. It may have the same DNA in different sections but as fungi reproduce clonally (all its clones will contain the same original DNA), that doesn't mean it is still all connected. Over the 2000 or so years it has been around, the chances are that it has broken up a bit. To prove it is still one organism, it would have to be dug up, all 2000 acres of it.

[spaced]

Rick Waller followed by Michelle McManus