Did you know a billion years ago we shared a common ancestor with fungi? In the 580 million years that followed, mushrooms and man would split into two separate branches of the phylogenetic tree. Mushrooms would enter into a life of benevolent servitude and mankind into something resembling a drunken liquor cheeseburger party.
The early Silurian period was just dawning when the first of our mushroom elders, Tortotubus Protuberans, made landfall. Tortotubus, and it’s knack for chemistry, would spend the next 20 million years terraforming earth’s rocky crust into something resembling… tinier rocky crust. Enzymatically digesting rock into fertile soil.
Early on fungi formed a symbiosis with plants. Attaching to the plant’s roots, fungi was much more efficient at processing nitrogen and other nutrients out of the soil. A deal was struck. The mushy would feed the plant and in return the plant would slide the mushy a little sugar. ‘Cause who doesn’t like a little sugar?
The fungi plant partnership allowed plants to grow larger root systems. Equipped with their fancy new roots and mushroom shoes, plants moved further and further away from the waters edge establishing terrestrial ecosystems and ultimately realizing their dream of total world domination. The Mushroom Elders looked at what they had created and smiled.
Later in the Devonian Period, Archaeopteris – The First “True” tree, would eventually emerge heralding era of the forest. It was the first plant to produce an extensive root system which in turn had a significant impact on soil chemistry. With trunks up to three feet wide, the trees grew perhaps 60 to 90 feet tall.
The eco systems Tortotubus Protuberans started we still walk amongst today. All made possible by selfless gifts from our mushroom elders.
Here are some key facts about Tortotubus protuberans:
- Oldest Known Terrestrial Organism: It is considered the oldest known fossil of a land-dwelling organism.
- Early Land Colonizer: This fungus existed during a time when life was primarily in the oceans, and only simple moss-like and lichen-like plants had begun to appear on land.
- Role in Soil Formation: Tortotubus protuberans is believed to have played a crucial role in the early colonization of land by initiating the process of rot and soil formation. This decomposition would have released essential nutrients into the rudimentary soil, paving the way for more complex plant life.
- Nutrient Transport: Its structure, similar to that of some modern fungi, likely enabled it to store and transport nutrients through decomposition, which would have been advantageous in an environment where nutrients were scarce and unevenly distributed.
- Morphology: The fungus had a cord-like structure with a main filament that sent out primary and secondary branches that reattached and enveloped the main filament.
- Resemblance to Modern Fungi: Its growth pattern is reminiscent of the mycelial cords found in modern mushroom-forming fungi (Basidiomycota and Ascomycota).
- Fossil Locations: Fossils of Tortotubus protuberans have been found in various locations, including New York state, Scotland, and Gotland in Sweden.
- Size: The individual filaments of Tortotubus protuberans were quite small, less than the width of a human hair.
- Diet: As a saprophyte, it likely fed on other simple organisms that may have colonized the land before it, such as bacteria and algae, although their fossil record is sparse.
- Classification: Tortotubus is classified within the Kingdom Fungi and Subkingdom Dikarya.
