The largest bacteria in the world can be seen with the naked eye.
The previous standard for the largest microbe that is currently known to science has been completely decimated. The recently found Thiomargarita Magnifica is an incredible 50 times larger than the previous record holder. And that's not the end of it. T. Magnifica, which was initially found in a mangrove swamp in Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles, challenges a great number of preconceived notions regarding bacteria.
To begin, it is not a microbe in any sense of the word.
Jean-Marie Volland, a marine microbiologist, was the one who announced the discovery of a new species of the huge bacterium during a news conference on Tuesday. "We are announcing a new species of a giant bacteria... that generates filaments up to 20,000 micrometers long," he said. "They are by far the largest bacter...