At over 8 meters tall and resembling a trunk, this creature dominated the Earth 400 million years before the dinosaurs — and science still doesn't know what it was.

At over 8 meters tall and resembling a trunk, this creature dominated the Earth 400 million years before the dinosaurs — and science still doesn’t know what it was.

Written by Douglas Avila

Published on 16/04/2026 at 06:17

Updated on 16/04/2026 at 06:18

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Existing between 420 and 370 million years ago, when plants were no more than 20 centimeters tall, Prototaxites reached 8 meters and were the largest terrestrial organism of the time — giant fungus, plant, or something completely different?

Imagine Earth 400 million years ago. There were no trees. There were no dinosaurs. Terrestrial plants were at most 20 centimeters tall.

And in the midst of this low and primitive landscape, structures rose up to 8 meters tall. They looked like tree trunks. But they were not trees.

They were the Prototaxites — the largest non-animal organism of that era. And to this day, more than 160 years after their discovery, no one knows for sure what they were.

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What was this 8-meter creature like

The fossils show vertical cylindrical structures, resembling massive trunks. The diameter could reach 1 meter.

Internally, they featured interconnected concentric tubes. The anatomy does not correspond to any currently living organism.

They existed during the Silurian and Devonian periods, between 420 and 370 million years ago. They have been found on all continents.

When they disappeared, the first true trees began to emerge. The forest replaced the mysterious giants.

To give a sense of scale: Prototaxites were 40 times taller than any surrounding plant.

The debate that has lasted over a century

1859: Dawson classifies as fossil conifer
1870s: reclassified as algae
2001: Francis Hueber suggests it was a giant fungus
2007: carbon isotopic analysis supports fungus hypothesis
2010: researchers propose they were rolled-up microbial mats
Current: giant fungus is the most accepted hypothesis, but there is no consensus

In 2001, paleobotanist Francis Hueber from the Smithsonian Institution proposed that Prototaxites were giant fungi.

In 2007, analyses of carbon-13 isotopes by C. Kevin Boyce and team showed that Prototaxites had different signatures from the surrounding plants.

This suggested that they obtained nutrients differently — more compatible with fungi than with photosynthetic plants.

But in 2010, Linda Graham and collaborators proposed an alternative: mats of liverworts and rolled cyanobacteria as a giant mass.

Those interested in the mysteries of paleontology can see that even a fossil considered an octopus for 20 years was recently reclassified.

Prototaxites fossil showing concentric tubular internal structure — The internal structure of Prototaxites shows concentric tubes that do not correspond to any current organism — Illustrative image

If it is a fungus, it would be the largest in the history of life on Earth

Today, the largest living fungus is Armillaria ostoyae in Oregon, USA. It spreads over 8.9 km² underground.

But in visible height, no modern fungus comes close to the 8 meters of Prototaxites.

If the fungus hypothesis is confirmed, they would be the largest visible terrestrial organism in the entire history of life on the planet.

The idea of 8-meter mushrooms dominating entire landscapes challenges our notion of what is possible in biology.

Recent discoveries, such as the 12-meter Spinosaurus in the Sahara, show that primitive Earth was very different from what we imagine.

Scale comparison between 8-meter Prototaxites and 20 cm plants from the Devonian — Prototaxites were 40 times taller than any surrounding plant — Illustrative image

Fascinating mystery, but far from solved

Despite over 160 years of study, there is no consensus. The fungus hypothesis is the most accepted, but it is not unanimous.

Such ancient fossils suffer from deformation and loss of details. Many internal structures have been destroyed by time.

New analysis techniques may bring answers. But they may also generate more questions about this enigmatic creature.

Information compiled from studies published in Nature and in Smithsonian Magazine. The debate over the classification of Prototaxites remains open in the scientific community.

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At over 8 meters tall and resembling a trunk, this creature dominated the Earth 400 million years before the dinosaurs — and science still doesn’t know what it was.

Existing between 420 and 370 million years ago, when plants were no more than 20 centimeters tall, Prototaxites reached 8 meters and were the largest terrestrial organism of the time — giant fungus, plant, or something completely different?

What was this 8-meter creature like

The debate that has lasted over a century

If it is a fungus, it would be the largest in the history of life on Earth

Fascinating mystery, but far from solved

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At over 8 meters tall and resembling a trunk, this creature dominated the Earth 400 million years before the dinosaurs — and science still doesn’t know what it was.

Existing between 420 and 370 million years ago, when plants were no more than 20 centimeters tall, Prototaxites reached 8 meters and were the largest terrestrial organism of the time — giant fungus, plant, or something completely different?

What was this 8-meter creature like

The debate that has lasted over a century

If it is a fungus, it would be the largest in the history of life on Earth

Fascinating mystery, but far from solved

Seen from space, an image taken by an astronaut shows an unlikely oasis in the Saudi Arabian desert, protected by a terrain that slows the advance of sand, surrounded by green circles, remnants of an extinct lake and nearly 10,000 years of preserved history.

While the U.S. still faces limitations in deep space, China is developing unprecedented technology with strategic satellites that maintain communication with the far side of the Moon and aims for dominance by 2030.

In Botswana, a salt flat of up to 16,000 km² that was once an African megalake spends months as an absolute white desert, but during the rainy season it transforms into a shallow sea that reappears from nowhere and can be seen from space in the middle of southern Africa.

The Blood Falls of Antarctica hide a living ecosystem trapped under the ice for over 2 million years, where microbes survive without light, without oxygen, and without ever having seen the Sun.

Bavarian archaeologists unearthed a medieval skeleton that had an articulated iron hand in place of its left arm, and the discovery reveals that doctors were already creating sophisticated prosthetics over 500 years ago.

The CEO of Honor in Spain says that smartphones will change with AI, foldables, and even robot phones; the component crisis is making cheap models more expensive in 2026 and shifting the focus to premium.

Brazil already has the largest electric buses in daily operation in the world: Goiânia has put 28-meter giants from Volvo on the streets to transform urban transport, placing the country at the center of a new showcase for urban mobility.

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With 93 companies selling armored vehicles, aircraft, and monitoring systems to 148 countries, Brazil’s defense industry is doubling exports and is on track to break all records in 2026.