Largest organisms one of the largest and oldest clonal colonies on Earth. Among animals, the largest species are all marine mammals, specifically whales. The blue whale is believed to be the largest animal to have ever lived. The largest land animal classification is also dominated by mammals, with the African bush elephant being the most massive of these. The largest single-stem tree by wood volume and mass is the giant sequoia ("Sequoiadendron giganteum"), native to Sierra Nevada and California; it typically grows to a height of and in diameter. Multiple-stem trees such as banyan can be enormous. Thimmamma Marrimanu in India spreads
The Animal Years of America], but [instead] it all came out sounding like a love song." Ritter has said that the life and work of Mark Twain were a great influence on "The Animal Years", in particular Twain's books "Life on the Mississippi" and "Letters from the Earth". When analyzed alongside Twain's biography, lyrics from multiple songs on "The Animal Years" seem to make textual reference to the life and times of Mark Twain. The most intriguing example may be the enigmatic song "Monster Ballads," which contains references to both the 19th-century decline of the Mississippi River steamboat at the hands of the