Overview
- A peer‑reviewed Science Advances paper concludes the enigmatic Prototaxites most likely belongs to a previously undescribed, now‑extinct eukaryotic lineage rather than to fungi or plants.
- Researchers focused on Prototaxites taiti from the ~407‑million‑year‑old Rhynie chert in northeast Scotland, applying confocal 3D imaging, infrared spectroscopy and machine‑learning comparisons.
- The fossil’s internal architecture shows three classes of interwoven tubes and dense medullary spots unlike known fungal hyphae, leading the authors to exclude fungal, plant and lichen affinities.
- Chemical fingerprints lacked chitin and other fungal biomarkers and did not match contemporaneous fungi, plants, arthropods or bacteria preserved in the same deposit.
- The specimen has been added to National Museums Scotland’s collections for display, and while experts call the work the strongest case yet after a 165‑year debate, they say more evidence is needed to fix its place on the tree of life.