The Biggest Creature That Lived On Earth May Be Hiding Under Your Feet.

When we talk about the biggest live organisms on the planet, we are usually thinking of big animals like the blue whale or plants like the giant sequoia. Although blue whales are around 30 meters long and sequoias can grow higher than 100 meters. However, none of these is the biggest in the world. The biggest creature in the world is a fungus.

The fungus specie belongs to the Armillaria genus and it can was first discovered in a forest in Oregon in 1998.  The so called honey fungus was found during a research. Namely, scientists wanted to find out why trees were dying on a specific place.

Scientists found the fungus called Armillaria solidipes consisted in the dead trees. The analysis showed that all of the trees had the same genotype, which proved that it is one single organism in question. This specie of fungus is spread across an area of 9.6 square kilometers, which equals 1,665 football arenas.

Scientists believe that this organism is 2,400-year-old. Some reports have been stating that this fungus is 8,600-years-old, and maybe it is the oldest live organism who ever existed.

All we know now is that Armillaria solidipes is a fungus who lives underground and because of that can’t be easily discovered. We can’t know what lies under our feet, after all, no matter the greatness.