Tag Archive for 'Rhynie Chert'

Prototaxites was the largest organism on land 410 million years ago. Image credit: Matt Humpage.

Prototaxites May Be Completely Unknown Branch of Complex Life

Jan 22, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

For more than 165 years, one of the earliest giants to rise above Earth’s barren land has defied classification. Known as Prototaxites, the towering,...

Potteromyces asteroxylicola, holotype in white light: (a) location of the fungus (asterisks) along the aerial axis and enations of the plant Asteroxylon mackiei; arrowhead showing animal remains; (b) plant reaction induced by the fungal attack; (c, d) higher magnifications of the framed zone from (b) showing the plant cell proliferation in response to the fungal attack; arrowheads showing hyphae; (e) conidiophores in tuft; (f) higher magnification of (e); (g) conidiophores in high magnification, slightly shrunken at their distal end, and conidia. Scale bars - 900 µm in (a); 400 µm in (b); 120 µm in (c), 45 µm in (d), 85 µm in (e), 35 µm in (f, g). Image credit: Strullu-Derrien et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-43276-1.

407-Million-Years-Old Microfossils Reveal Earliest-Known Disease-Causing Fungus

Dec 12, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Potteromyces asteroxylicola parasitized on an extinct species of lycopsid plant called Asteroxylon mackiei, according to a paper published in the journal...