Synchrotron infrared analysis helps reveal that enigmatic Devonian fossils were not fungi, but members of a previously unknown lineage of complex life
Researchers studying one of palaeontology’s longest-running mysteries have shown that Prototaxites, giant column-like fossils that dominated Earth’s earliest terrestrial landscapes, do not belong to the fungal kingdom, as long suspected. Instead, new evidence suggests they represent a completely distinct and now extinct branch of complex eukaryotic life.
The findings, published in Science Advances, were supported by experiments carried out on Diamond’s B22 infrared microspectroscopy beamline.
A 400-million-year-old puzzle
Prototaxites fossils date back more than 400 million years to the early Devonian period and could reach several metres in height, making them the largest known organisms on land at the time. They are typically preserved as massive, trunk-like columns found in some of the earliest terrestrial ecosystems, long before trees had evolved. For over 160 years, scientists have debated their biological identity, with fungi long considered the most likely explanation due to their tubular internal structure and lack of obvious plant features.
Read more on the Diamond website