Latest news with #Prototaxites
Forbes
07-04-2025
- Science
- Forbes
26-Foot-Tall Giant ‘Fungi-Like' Organism Might Be A Lost Form Of Life — A Biologist Explains
Prototaxites, a towering organism that once dominated the barren landscapes of early terrestrial Earth 440 to 360 million years ago, has long been an enigma among paleobiologists. For nearly two centuries, its true identity eluded scientists, as fossilized remains revealed a structure that defied classification. Its colossal, branchless trunks were a puzzle, hinting at a lost chapter in the history of life on this planet. The first fossils of Prototaxites were unearthed in the mid-19th century, sparking debates over whether they were the remnants of ancient conifers or peculiar forms of algae. As research progressed, the scale and unique anatomy of these fossils gradually steered scientists toward a fungal interpretation. Yet, as new analytical techniques emerged, the simplicity of earlier interpretations was challenged. Today, fresh evidence suggests that Prototaxites might represent an entirely novel branch of life, one that no longer exists in our modern world. The story of Prototaxites begins with its discovery in 1843, when paleontologists first stumbled upon giant, cylindrical fossils along the ancient riverbanks of Gaspé Bay in Quebec, Canada. Early interpretations by scientists such as John William Dawson initially identified these massive trunks as decayed conifer remnants. However, the absence of typical conifer anatomy quickly cast doubt on this idea. Subsequent studies revealed a complex internal structure — an interwoven network of narrow tubes with diameters as small as 50 micrometers. This internal architecture featured a variety of tube types: some thick and unbranched, others thin with intricate, branching networks, suggesting an alternative origin. Physiologically, Prototaxites was unlike any organism known today. Its towering form — it could reach heights of up to 26 feet and stretch a meter wide — dwarfed other Devonian flora such as Cooksonia (see image below) and indicates that they likely played a critical ecological role in early terrestrial ecosystems. Furthermore, the variable carbon isotopic ratios found in its tissues supported the idea that it did not rely on photosynthesis but instead derived carbon from a mix of substrates — a characteristic trait of heterotrophic organisms that cannot produce their own food. Thus, for much of the 20th century, the prevailing view among scientists was that Prototaxites was a giant fungus. Early microscopic examinations by researchers like Arthur Church in 1919, coupled with subsequent work by Francis Hueber in 2001, solidified the notion that these fossils were the fruiting bodies of an enormous fungal organism. Chemical analyses in 2007 by teams including C. Kevin Boyce provided further support by revealing carbon isotope ratios characteristic of heterotrophic fungi. However, the classification was never without controversy. Over the years, debates raged as further evidence complicated the picture. Prototaxites lacked key biochemical markers found in all known fungi, most notably, traces of chitin in their cell walls. While some researchers attempted to reconcile these differences by suggesting that Prototaxites might be a giant lichen (a symbiotic association between fungi and photosynthetic partners), other studies instead pointed to its entirely distinct molecular fingerprint. Repeated reclassifications have demonstrated that traditional fungal taxonomy could not fully accommodate the unique features of Prototaxites. In effect, while early work grouped it with Ascomycota, later discoveries forced scientists to consider whether it represented a lost lineage that defies the modern fungal framework altogether. The most recent breakthrough in our understanding of Prototaxites comes from a yet-to-be peer-reviewed study focused on a species designated as Prototaxites taiti, and investigated by a team from the University of Edinburgh. These scientists re-examined exquisitely preserved specimens from the famed Rhynie chert — a deposit known for its exceptional fossil quality from the early Devonian period. Their in-depth analysis combined advanced imaging techniques, such as confocal laser scanning microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, with machine learning algorithms trained to recognize molecular fingerprints of known organisms. What emerged was startling: P. taiti exhibited internal tube structures with subtle annular thickenings, along with medullary spots that did not match the reproductive or structural elements found in modern fungi. The chemical analysis further showed a complete lack of chitin while revealing the presence of unusual lignin-like compounds. These findings led the researchers to conclude that P. taiti could not be comfortably placed within any existing branch of the eukaryotic tree, be it fungi, plants, or animals. Fungi or animal? Not possible due to the lack of chitin and the structure of the cell walls. A plant or algae? Very unlikely considering what we know about its chemical composition. A lichen? Its anatomy indicates otherwise. Instead, it appears to represent an entirely novel form of multicellular life — a lineage that evolved complex structures and a unique heterotrophic lifestyle before disappearing without a trace, leaving us to wonder about what now seems like a missing branch of the tree of life. Does reading about Prototaxites and how scientists continue to discover entirely new forms of life on our incredible planet fill you with wonder? Take this test to find out how deep your sense of belonging is with the natural world: Connectedness To Nature Scale
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists baffled at mysterious ancient creature that doesn't fit on the tree of life as we know it
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A bizarre ancient life-form, considered to be the first giant organism to live on land, may belong to a totally unknown branch of the tree of life, scientists say. These organisms, named Prototaxites, lived around 420 million to 375 million years ago during the Devonian period and resembled branchless, cylindrical tree trunks. These organisms would have been massive, with some species growing up to 26 feet (8 meters) tall and 3 feet (1 meter) wide. Since the first Prototaxites fossil was discovered in 1843, scientists haven't been sure whether they were a plant, fungus or even a type of algae. However, chemical analyses of Prototaxites fossils in 2007 suggested they were likely a giant ancient fungus. Now, according to a paper published March 17 on the preprint server bioRxiv, Prototaxites might not have been a humongous fungus after all — rather, it may have been an entirely different and previously unknown life-form. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed. All life on Earth is classified within three domains — bacteria, archaea and eukarya — with eukarya containing all multicellular organisms within the four kingdoms of fungi, animals, plants and protists. Bacteria and archaea contain only single-celled organisms. Previous chemical analysis of Prototaxites fossils indicated that they likely fed off decaying organisms, just like many fungi do today, rather than making their food from carbon dioxide in the air like plants. However, according to this new research, Prototaxites may actually have been part of a totally different kingdom of life, separate from fungi, plants, animals and protists. The researchers studied the fossilized remains of one Prototaxites species named Prototaxites taiti, found preserved in the Rhynie chert, a sedimentary deposit of exceptionally well-preserved fossils of early land plants and animals in Scotland. This species was much smaller than many other species of Prototaxites, only growing up to a few inches tall, but it is still the largest Prototaxites specimen found in this region. Upon examining the internal structure of the fossilized Prototaxites, the researchers found that its interior was made up of a series of tubes, similar to those within a fungus. But these tubes branched off and reconnected in ways very unlike those seen in modern fungi. "We report that Prototaxites taiti was the largest organism in the Rhynie ecosystem and its anatomy was fundamentally distinct from all known extant or extinct fungi," the researchers wrote in the paper. "We therefore conclude that Prototaxites was not a fungus, and instead propose it is best assigned to a now entirely extinct terrestrial lineage." True fungi from the same period have also been preserved in the Rhynie chert, enabling the researchers to chemically compare them to Prototaxites. In addition to their unique structural characteristics, the team found that the Prototaxites fossils left completely different chemical signatures to the fungi fossils, indicating that the Prototaxites did not contain chitin, a major building block of fungal cell walls and a hallmark of the fungal kingdom. The Prototaxites fossils instead appeared to contain chemicals similar to lignin, which is found in the wood and bark of plants. "We conclude that the morphology and molecular fingerprint of P. taiti is clearly distinct from that of the fungi and other organism preserved alongside it in the Rhynie chert, and we suggest that it is best considered a member of a previously undescribed, entirely extinct group of eukaryotes," the researchers wrote. Kevin Boyce, a professor at Stanford University, led the 2007 study that posited Prototaxites is a giant fungus and was not involved in this new research. However, he told the New Scientist that he agreed with the study's findings. RELATED STORIES —Scientists discover new 15 million-year old fish with last meal fossilized inside its stomach —30,000-year-old fossilized vulture feathers 'nothing like what we usually see' preserved in volcanic ash —Iguanas sailed one-fifth of the way around the world on rafts 34 million years ago "Given the phylogenetic information we have now, there is no good place to put Prototaxites in the fungal phylogeny," Boyce said. "So maybe it is a fungus, but whether a fungus or something else entirely, it represents a novel experiment with complex multicellularity that is now extinct and does not share a multicellular common ancestor with anything alive today." More research into Prototaxites fossils needs to be done to determine if they were fungi or a completely different type of life, and what caused them to go extinct millions of years ago. "The conclusion that it is a completely unknown eukaryote certainly creates an air of mystery and intrigue around it — probably not likely to be solved until more fossils are discovered or new analytical techniques developed," Brett Summerell, a plant pathologist and fungi expert at the Botanic Gardens of Sydney, Australia, who not involved in this new study, told the New Scientist.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists Puzzled by Giant Ancient Life Forms
Scientists are suggesting there may be a brand new type of life — or, at least, that one existed back in the day. In a new, yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper, scientists from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland argue that the massive and mysterious tubelike fossils known as "prototaxites" deserve their own life form classification because, basically, they're too weird to belong to any other. Since their discovery in the 1800s, prototaxites have long been a head-scratcher and a point of contention for scientists who to this day cannot figure out their nature. Fossils of this bizarre organism, which lived some 400 million years ago, were initially thought to be the remains of rotted trees, complete with the fungi that assisted their decomposition inside them. In 1872, however, a ticked-off Canadian scientist named William Carruthers trashed that concept and suggested, against scientific convention, that the name prototaxites, which translates to "first yew," be changed to "nematophycus," which means "stringy algae." Fast forward to 2007, and Stanford botanist Kevin Boyce declared, after analyzing the carbon isotypes found within a prototaxites fossil, that the strange monstrosities were some kind of fungus because they seemed to have gotten carbon from other organisms the way fungi do. Now, Edinburgh's Corentin Loron and his team are pouring water on that hypothesis as well — and suggesting, provocatively, that prototaxites don't belong to any other known lineage of organism and thus deserve their own. To reach that conclusion, Loron and his colleagues analyzed the chemical makeup of Prototaxites taiti, a type of prototaxites found in Scotland that was, unlike its cousins, only a few centimeters tall. Fungi were abundant in the area where p. taiti was found, so the scientists were able to compare the composition of those fossilized fungi to that of the prototaxites fossils. As they discovered, the cellular composition of p. taiti was vastly different from the fungi that grew alongside it — and indeed, was distinct from all known fungi, extinct or otherwise. Specifically, the prototaxites sample did not contain any chitin, a polymer that makes up fungal cell walls, which to their minds meant that it wasn't a fungus at all. Its anatomy was also "fundamentally distinct from all known extant or extinct fungi," the researchers wrote in their paper, which added to their contention that prototaxites should be granted their own lineage. Boyce, the botanist who insisted that prototaxites are a fungus nearly 20 years ago, admitted in an interview with New Scientist about the new research that with the information that's been uncovered in the intervening years, "there is no good place" for the organism in the fungal lineage. "Maybe it is a fungus," he told the magazine, "but whether a fungus or something else entirely, it represents a novel experiment with complex multicellularity that is now extinct and does not share a multicellular common ancestor with anything alive today." Notably, scientists still don't know why prototaxites went extinct. This new research provides another clue about this bizarre and long-dead organism — and deepens the mystery, too. More on weird life: Scientists Modified Genes In Mice to Give Them Traits of Woolly Mammoths, and the Results Are Frankly Adorable
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Mysterious Giants May Be a Whole New Kind of Life That No Longer Exists
Ever since their discovery more than 165 years ago, massive fossilized structures left by an organism known as Prototaxites have proven impossible to categorize. Researchers in the UK have now suggested in a report that is yet to be peer reviewed that there's a very good reason these oddities don't fit neatly on the tree of life – they belong to a branch all of their own, with no modern equivalent. Some 400 million years ago, the swamps of the late Silurian period would have sprouted a mix of horsetails, ferns, and other prototype plants that look positively alien today. Among them stretched 8-meter (26-foot) tall towers that defy easy identification. Wide and branchless, researchers have variously suggested these organisms were a form of algae or ancient conifer, based on what little evidence remains. Fossils found on the shores of Gaspé Bay in Quebec, Canada, were initially considered by geologist John William Dawson to be the remains of rotting trees, leading to his naming it 'first conifer' back in the 1850s. Though the name stuck, confusion over the fossil's classification continued, until National Museum of Natural History paleontologist Francis Hueber confirmed in 2001 that Prototaxites was indeed most likely an enormous fungus. That conclusion was backed up years later in 2017, by a subsequent analysis of a fossil fragment assumed to be from the peripheral region of a smaller Prototaxites species named P. taiti. This study claimed to identify textures that resembled the fertile structures of today's Ascomycota fungi. Not everybody is convinced, however, given the possibility the distinct fragments might not have even been connected. A yet-to-be-published study on three different P. taiti fragments, led by researchers at the University of Edinburgh, argues there's insufficient evidence to conclude Prototaxites is a fungus at all. Through a review of microscopic anatomy and chemical analysis of its tubular structures, the team systematically eliminated each and every candidate group, leaving no modern organism it might share some kind of ancestral relationship with. Fungi? Rejected thanks to the unique way its anatomy connects. A plant or algae? Not likely given its chemical composition. A mix of the two, such as a lichen? Not with that anatomy. Some bizarre animal? Cell walls say no chance. "Based on this investigation we are unable to assign Prototaxites to any extant lineage, reinforcing its uniqueness," the researchers claim. "We conclude that the morphology and molecular fingerprint of P. taiti is clearly distinct from that of the fungi and other organism preserved alongside it in the [Devonian deposit], and we suggest that it is best considered a member of a previously undescribed, entirely extinct group of eukaryotes." What might have happened to this long-dead group of organisms is anybody's guess. Further review of the study may even return the mystifying group back to its box among ancient fungi. Without similar specimens to relate them to, Prototaxites may simply remain a fossil anomaly – a reminder that evolution is a constant experiment, one littered with far more failures than we may ever have realized. This research can be accessed on the pre-peer review server, bioRxiv. Venus Flytrap Wasp: 99-Million-Year-Old Amber Reveals Bizarre New Species Hear The First-Ever Recordings of Sharks Actively Making Noises Mysterious Golden Orb Found at The Bottom of The Ocean
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
This Bizarre Fossil Isn't a Plant, Animal, or Fungus—Turns Out It's a Whole New Form of Life
Prototaxites, an extinct organism from the Devonian period, has been thought to be a fungus since its first fossil was unearthed. Analysis of one Prototaxites species showed that its physical and chemical characteristics were not only different from those of any existing fungus—the didn't match any existing organism at all. Prototaxites is now thought to belong to an extinct group of eukaryotes, but what exactly that group was remains a mystery. 430 million years ago, towering life-forms known as Prototaxites emerged from the ground, reaching heights of up to 26 feet and growing trunks up to 3 feet wide. When the first Prototaxites fossil was unearthed in 1843, it was mistaken for an ancient rotting conifer. But trees didn't yet exist during the Silurian period, so what exactly was this thing taking over the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana? That argument was never truly settled. Most scientists made Prototaxites out to be a sort of humungous fungus, but the field as a whole was never certain. That, however, may have just changed. Back in 2007, the carbon isotopes in fossils convinced scientists this really was a fungus, since they appeared to be evidence that Prototaxites behaved like fungi by leeching off other living organisms for oxygen. Videos with clickbait titles like When Giant Fungi Ruled the Earth soon spread through the internet. But now, a new analysis by researchers at the University of Edinburgh is showing otherwise. When paleobiologist Corentin Loron and his colleagues examined Prototaxites fossils from what is now Aberdeenshire, Scotland, they found evidence that it was anatomically and chemically differed from fungi in too many ways to be considered fungal. The problem—it also belonged with nothing else. It was apparently not a plant, animal, or fungus. 'Having found no support for the most widely held view that Prototaxites was fungal, we next reviewed possible placement in other higher taxonomic groups. No extant group was found to exhibit all the defining features of Prototaxites,' they said in a study recently uploaded to the preprint server bioarXiv. The specimens that Loron studied were of the species Prototaxites taiti—smaller than the behemoths found elsewhere, but still preserved well enough to take a closer look at their external and internal structures. Tubes on the side of one of the specimens had been previously determined to be sacs filled with spores, which is why that group of researchers placed the species at the base of the extinct fungal group Ascomycota. Loron's team found, however, that this supposedly fertile part has no organic connection to the rest of the organism. Petrified slices of P. taiti had a light brown exterior and dark brown medullary spots (blobs of cells that were arranged irregularly) on the inside. Existing fungi do not have medullary spots. Its innards were also made up of all sorts of tubes, including thin tubes that bent and branched, larger curving tubes with thicker walls but no branches, and even larger unbranched tubes with faint structures similar to growth rings. No extant fungi have tubes like this inside them—let alone with strange rings. The only place rings are found in fungi are in spore sacs known as elaters. Prototaxites only got weirder after its chemical analysis. If it really was a fungus, then the cell walls of P. taiti should show remains of certain sugars that resulted from the taphonomic breakdown of chitin—a strong, fibrous substance also found in the shells of crustaceans and exoskeletons of insects. However, there were no traces of these sugars found in P. taiti. While the researchers are open to the possibility that some sugars and proteins could have been lost in the early phases of fossilization, it is unlikely, as there were plenty of chemicals found in the fossilized soil of the region in which this species of Prototaxites grew. 'No extant group was found to exhibit all the defining features of Prototaxites,' Loron said in the study, suggesting that 'it is best considered a member of a previously undescribed, entirely extinct group of eukaryotes.' Maybe Prototaxites was a fun guy if you got to know him, but he just didn't fit in with the fungi. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
