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Largest known plant on earth discovered at Shark Bay and it's 4,500 years old
Researchers from The University of Western Australia and Flinders University have located what is believed to be the largest plant in the world – an ancient and incredibly resilient seagrass stretching across 180km that is estimated to be at least 4,500 years old.
The discovery of the single plant or ‘clone’ of the seagrass Posidonia australis in the shallow, sun-drenched waters of the World Heritage Area of Shark Bay in WA, is detailed in a new study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Evolutionary biologist Dr Elizabeth Sinclair, from UWA’s School of Biological Sciences and the UWA Oceans Institute, is a senior author of the study and said the project began when researchers wanted to understand how genetically diverse the seagrass meadows in Shark Bay were, and which plants should be collected for seagrass restoration. (More)
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