Pando: The Ancient Giant – The World’s Largest and Heaviest Living Organism, Estimated to be Over 16,000 Years Old

When we talk about a giant and very old living organism, we might think of a marine creature buried in the abysses of the Ocean for millennia which could come from Lovecraftian mythology. However, living things are not necessarily animals. It can also be plant-based, like Pando, a colony of aspen trees in Utah (USA) which already had the title of largest living organism in the world and which would also be, according to a recent study, the oldest.

Pando, a tree cloned 47,000 times

If usually, a forest, in the plant sense of the term, is an environment made up of a multitude of living beings (trees, plants, flowers, etc.), this is not the case with Pando, a very particular forest.

Indeed, in Utah, in the American West, is Pando, a forest of 47,000 trees, trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides), which represent only one individual. It covers 43 hectares. A fact that can be understood when we look at the etymology of the name of the tree, or the 47,000. Indeed, in Latin “Pando” means “I stretch”.

The heaviest organism on the planet…

The prize for the largest and heaviest animal on planet Earth goes to the blue whale (Balænoptera musculus). Measuring 24 meters long and weighing up to 150 tonnes, it is a true behemoth of the Ocean. No other animal comes close to matching it.

However, the blue whale is featherweight next to Pando. In fact, the largest animal on Earth is 40 times lighter than the clonal colony of 47,000 trees. Thus, the entire population of aspen trees, which represent only a single individual, weighs around 6,000 tonnes.

… who would also be among the oldest

Indeed, according to a recent study published, for the moment, on the preprint server bioRxiv on October 24, 2024 and led by Rozenn M. Pineau, of the Georgia Institute of Technology, highlighted a very advanced age of Pando.

Based on analyzes of Pando's genetic material, extracted from leaves, roots and pieces of bark, the American researcher's team was able to give a range of the age of the tree, finally 47,000.

By tracing the genetic mutations that were spotted on the samples, scientists therefore estimated that Pando was born 34,000 years ago. However, as reported International Mail And New Scientistthe scientists, in order to take into account a possible margin of error, therefore estimated that the tree which was cloned would have come to life between 16,000 and 81,000 years ago.

Besides that, a blue whale can live up to 90 years. However, Pando is a youngster next to a living organism found in the Mediterranean Sea: a Posidonia herbarium which is dated 200,000 years ago.

Pando, a dying organism?

Despite being the largest, heaviest and among the oldest, Pando is under threat. Not by deforestation, as can be the case in the Amazon, but by herbivorous animals: deer and elk.

Indeed, in 2022, an article from The Conversation highlighted the fact that these mammals, formerly hunted by cougars and wolves, had proliferated in very large numbers due to the decline in the number of predators. Thus, by taking refuge in Pando, deer and elk feast on the young shoots of the colony, jeopardizing its expansion and future survival by interrupting the renewal of aspen clones in this unique forest in the world.

Source: Courrier International / New Scientist / The Conversation