Think all bacteria are microscopic? Tell that to these centimeter-long monsters

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/23/ [login to see] /largest-bacteria-ever-discovered-thiomargarita-magnifica
Bacteria typically live out their teeny-tiny lives in the microscopic realm, but now scientists have found a gargantuan one the size and shape of a human eyelash.

The new find is "by far the largest bacteria known to date," says Jean-Marie Volland of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Laboratory for Research in Complex Systems. "These bacteria are about 5,000 times larger than most bacteria."

"To put things into perspective," he added, "it is the equivalent for us humans to encounter another human who would be as tall as Mount Everest."

The roughly 1 centimeter behemoth somehow attaches itself to sunken leaves in Caribbean mangrove swamps, according to a report in the journal Science.

The scientist who initially collected the thin white filaments had no idea that he'd discovered a new kind of bacteria visible to the naked eye.

But a lab examination showed that they didn't have key features of plant or animal cells, and a genetic analysis soon revealed their true nature. They're related to other bacteria that also make a living off of sulfur and grow large — but not this large.