Discover the world’s largest creature covering 20,000 hectares of Australian sea

Posidonia lawn seen from above. This creature was severely damaged in the 2010 heat wave but is making a strong comeback – NYT screenshot

Creature It’s a seagrass with a scientific name Posidonia australis, a research subject of Ms. Jane Edgeloe. This doctoral student spent a lot of time diving in the seagrass species in Shark Bay and taking samples for testing and DNA analysis.

The results are published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B on June 1 exposed one of the giant creatures and possibly the largest in the world alive, according to the newspaper New York Times.

“They’re all the same tree,” said Dr. Elizabeth Sinclair, co-author of the study, excitedly talking to the American newspaper.

While some grasslands north of Shark Bay reproduce sexually, the rest of the Posidonian grasslands have cloned and grown on their own over thousands of years. Some of the Posidonian grasslands look separate, but genetic testing shows they are one and were once connected by giant roots.

Diving scientists survey and take genetic testing samples of Posidonia seagrass – Photo taken from clip

The grass in Shark Bay appears to be a “hybrid” between the two species and possesses two complete sets of chromosomes, a condition known as polyploidy.

Although polyploidy can cause embryonic death in animals, it can be harmless or even useful in plants. However, it can lead to asexuality: the grass does not flower and can only reproduce by continuing to self-replicate.

The combination of these complementary and cloned genes may be the key to grass survival in times of ancient climate change.

Cloning makes it easier for it to reproduce because it doesn’t have to worry about finding a mate. Additional genes may have given seagrasses “the ability to cope with a wide variety of conditions – a great thing given the changing climate,” Sinclair added.

An interesting question that is being asked by scientists is whether the world’s largest organism and has survived climate change in ancient times can withstand modern climate change.

The existence of seagrass beds like Posidonia in Australia is very important, not only to help clean the water, but also to be home to many marine species – Screenshot

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