Lives 4500 years ago and covers an area larger than "Washington" .. The discovery of the world's longest-lived plants!

Scientists recently discovered the world's longest-lived plant, a seagrass meadow that continuously grows by cloning itself, off the coast of Australia.

It covers an area larger than Washington.

Genetic analysis revealed that the underwater Australian fields of intertwined green kelp are a single organism covering 180 square kilometres, growing and living by copying itself over 4,500 years ago.

This scientific research was published yesterday in the journal "Proceedings of the Royal Society B".

Scientists confirmed that the meadow is a single organism by sampling and comparing the DNA of kelp branches stretching across the area, writes study co-author Jane Edgeloy, a marine biologist at the University of Western Australia.

It is mentioned that several plants and some animals reproduce “asexually”, but there are “disadvantages” in this matter, because these plants are clones of a single organism, which may make them more susceptible to disease.

The process can also "create monsters" through its ability to grow rapidly, according to the scientists.

Scientists describe the interconnected Poseidon meadow in Australia as "the widest known clone on Earth".

Despite the vastness of the kelp, it is weak.

A decade ago, seagrass covered an additional 7 square miles, but hurricanes and rising ocean temperatures linked to climate change killed more than a tenth of ancient sea cover.

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