In Utah (United States), there is a forest known as Pando that, at first glance, looks like an extensive group of poplars. However, what distinguishes it from other forests is that it actually These 47,000 trees are a single organism. These poplars are interconnected by a complex root system and are genetically identical, meaning that Pando, in its entirety, is a single living being. This incredible feature has intrigued the scientific community for decades and has led it to be considered one of the longest-lived and heaviest organisms on Earth.
The research that allowed Pando to be dated was led by the biologist Rozenn Pineaufrom the Georgia Institute of Technology, in Atlanta. To obtain precise data on the evolutionary history of this unique organism, Pineau and his team collected more than 500 samples from different parts of the forest, including leaves, roots and bark. Their objective was to analyze somatic mutations in Pando’s DNA, that is, genetic alterations that occur in the organism’s cells throughout its life.
How old is Pando?
These mutations allowed researchers to reconstruct the history of Pando, which is estimated to be between 16,000 and 81,000 yearsaccording to the conclusions of the study. The different estimates of Pando’s age are due to variations in the number of mutations observed. The first estimate, the most conservative, places the age of the forest at around 16,000 years.
This figure was obtained considering only the mutations that scientists could identify with certainty in the organism’s DNA. In a second estimate, which includes possible undetected somatic mutations, Pando’s age would increase to about 34,000 years. Finally, the oldest estimate, which considers lower precision in identifying mutations, suggests that the forest could be up to 81,000 years old. Beyond the exact estimates, all these calculations highlight the antiquity of Pando. Rozenn Pineau told the scientific magazine New Scientist that, even in the most conservative estimate, this organism would have survived from the last ice age.
Pando is not only impressive for his age, but also for his size and weight. Spreading over 43 hectares and with a estimated weight of 13 million tonsPando is the largest and heaviest living organism on the planet. Its size is the result of a natural cloning process. Poplar forests can reproduce both by seeds and by sprouting from roots and Pando has grown thanks to the latter method. The new trees, which are actually clones of the original, emerge from shoots in the root system, creating an interconnected and uniform structure.