The Devonian period, between 420 and 360 million years ago, is usually known for its diverse ocean life. It’s sometimes even called ‘the Age of Fishes.’ Meanwhile, on land, something big was growing unlike any other life we know.
Prototaxites looked like tree trunks, growing up to eight metres tall and one metre across. This was bigger than anything else that had ever lived on land before them. However, scientists have never been sure what they actually were. Theories have included that they were plants, algae or, most recently, fungi. One group of scientists from the United Kingdom disagree with all of these suggestions.
Their research, which is still being reviewed by other experts, looks at the structure of the cells in Prototaxites fossils. They found that these cells don’t include any chitin, which is found in all known types of fungus. The cells also don’t match anything else we’ve discovered before, meaning Prototaxites could have been a completely unique lifeform that never survived to the modern day.
Lachlan Writes Science 