Published on: 2025-05-23 07:15:17
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 content
Keywords: fungi fungus new prototaxites scientists
Find related items on AmazonPublished on: 2025-05-24 14:55:06
Hundreds of millions of years ago, mysterious life forms called Prototaxites towered toward the sky. Believed to be the first giant organisms to thrive on dry land, some species of Prototaxites grew up to 26 feet (8 meters) in height and resembled tree trunks composed of tiny interconnected tubes. Their position in the greater tree of life has been hotly debated for over a century and a half. New research suggests this is because Prototaxites don’t have a place in the tree of life as we know it—
Keywords: eukaryotes fungi organisms prototaxites researchers
Find related items on AmazonPublished on: 2025-05-25 17:15:28
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 disco
Keywords: fossils fungi fungus life prototaxites
Find related items on AmazonGo K’awiil is a project by nerdhub.co that curates technology news from a variety of trusted sources. We built this site because, although news aggregation is incredibly useful, many platforms are cluttered with intrusive ads and heavy JavaScript that can make mobile browsing a hassle. By hand-selecting our favorite tech news outlets, we’ve created a cleaner, more mobile-friendly experience.
Your privacy is important to us. Go K’awiil does not use analytics tools such as Facebook Pixel or Google Analytics. The only tracking occurs through affiliate links to amazon.com, which are tagged with our Amazon affiliate code, helping us earn a small commission.
We are not currently offering ad space. However, if you’re interested in advertising with us, please get in touch at [email protected] and we’ll be happy to review your submission.