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   Phil Betts (philbetts@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 16-Feb-2025 23:10:39 JST Phil Betts

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   • myrmepropagandist

   @futurebird eternally relevant.

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     myrmepropagandist (futurebird@sauropods.win)'s status on Sunday, 16-Feb-2025 23:10:40 JST myrmepropagandist

     Listen. I wasn't born yesterday. I know that fungi aren't plants: they don't have chloroplasts to photosynthesize. They don't use cellulose for their cell walls like plants.

     But what *do* they use then? Chitin! Like a bug! This is what the exoskeletons of insects (such as ants) are made of!

     The implications of this are marvelous. Consider Prototaxites, the tree-size fungi of the Silurian. They stood tall using chitin. And to me? THAT says that giant ants may be more possible than we think!

     GNU Too likes this.
     Adrianna Tan repeated this.