Mysterious Fossil Discovery Represents a Whole New Form of Life
March 29, 2025 | Source: The Brighter Side | by Rebecca Shavit
In a world that looked nothing like today’s, long before the rise of the dinosaurs or even the first trees, giant living towers stretched skyward from the Earth’s surface. Some reached heights of 26 feet, with trunks nearly 3 feet wide.
These towering life-forms, known as Prototaxites, appeared around 430 million years ago during the Silurian period, dominating a landscape where early plants barely grew past your ankles. But despite their size and strange appearance, scientists have never agreed on what these organisms actually were.
For over 165 years, experts have tried to solve the mystery of Prototaxites. It has been labeled a fungus, an alga, a conifer, or something entirely different. Now, after decades of debate, researchers may have finally settled the question. Or perhaps they’ve raised an even bigger one: Prototaxites might belong to a group of organisms that no longer exists.