The biggest creature on the planet was only discovered in 1996: a fungus that grows under the soil of the Malheur National Forest, in the State of Oregon, United States.
This Armillaria ostoyae, popularly known as the “honey mushroom”, was born as a tiny particle, impossible to see with the naked eye, and extended its filaments over an estimated period of 2,400 years. From the surface, you can only see its ends along the tree trunks, but underground it occupies 880 hectares – the equivalent of 1,220 football fields. “It still grows from 70 centimeters to 1.20 meters per year”, says agronomist João Lúcio de Azevedo, from USP. Before its discovery, the largest living being was another fungus of the same species, found in 1992. Until the 1990s, the title belonged to a California sequoia tree.
Until the 1990s, the General Sherman sequoia tree in California – at 83 meters tall – was the largest known living creature on the planet.
The blue whale is the largest animal on Earth: it can measure 30 meters in length and weigh 135 tons
The elephant is the largest land animal: 3.50 m tall and weighing up to 6 400 kg
Tallest man on record measured 2.72m
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