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chasil 4 hours ago

Not all are?

Largest eukaryote:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valonia_ventricosa

largest prokaryote:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiomargarita_namibiensis

DaveSchmindel 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> Cell sizes are not fixed, however, even within a single species. Cells often swell as they increase their production of proteins and metabolites in preparation for division. This is in line with biology’s only rule: namely, there are exceptions to every rule!

> Case in point: a giant bacterium called Thiomargarita magnifica can extend about one centimeter in length, so large that it can be seen by the naked eye. It does so by breaking the surface area-to-volume rule, filling between 65–80 percent of its internal volume with an empty vacuole. In other words, it pushes most of its molecules to the cell periphery, thus shortening diffusion distances.

There is also a captioned image of bubble algae in the post.

cwmoore 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Interesting topology. How empty is the vacuole?

vasco 40 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

> This is in line with biology’s only rule: namely, there are exceptions to every rule!

Nice paradox

teravor 34 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

    > The entire cell contains several cytoplasmic domains, with each domain having a nucleus and a few chloroplasts.
it reinvented being multi-cellular
OrderlyTiamat 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

relatedly, foraminifera are single cellular organisms that can grow up to 20 cm! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophyophorea

ssivark 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Isn't the ovum supposed to be a single cell? Eggs of various species can be substantially larger than this.

acheron an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

There’s also the one that almost ate the Enterprise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Immunity_Syndrome_(Star_Tr...

mr_toad 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophyophorea

embedding-shape 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Those still seem kind of small? Why not the size of an mature olive tree for example? I'm guessing the article may answer this, haven't gotten that far yet.

malfist 3 hours ago | parent [-]

When they invade your saltwater aquarium, you won't think they're small. They can get up just slightly larger than a marble

AgentMasterRace 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Exactly

MagicMoonlight 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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