A Fossil So Strange Scientists Think It’s From a Completely New Form of Life

"Nature's hidden empire": This massive, fungus-like organism could redefine the entire tree of life

IN A NUTSHELL Prototaxites, an ancient organism from the Devonian period, may belong to an entirely new branch of life. Recent research suggests it is distinct from fungi, with a unique internal structure and chemical composition. The study highlights the complexity of early life on Earth and challenges previous scientific assumptions. Further discoveries and innovative techniques are needed to fully understand the nature and extinction of Prot…

In the fields of an ancient swamp in Scotland, a group of scientists have dug up something that seems to have come out of a science fiction novel: fossils of organisms up to 8 meters high, without roots, without branches and without known relatives today. What were they? Plants, fungi, animals? None of the above. It is a biological enigma called Prototaxites, a fossil that again shakes the foundations of what we thought we knew about the history…

Discovered more than 160 years ago, the fossils of Prototaxites continue to divide scientists. These 400 million-year-old structures could belong to a branch...

Nature sometimes holds fascinating surprises. One of them is the fossil of Prototaxites. Discovered for the first time in 1843, the latter has long been the subject of debate among scientists. For nearly two centuries, it was thought to belong to a giant fungus. However, recent discoveries by researchers [...]

A Fossil So Strange Scientists Think It’s From a Completely New Form of Life

This towering mystery fossil baffled scientists for 180 Years and it just got weirder.