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Complex life may only exist because of millions of years of groundwork by ancient fungi

Phys.org - Thu 23 May 19

Because of their delicate organic and decomposing nature, fossilized fungi are extremely rare. So rare, in fact, that a new discovery has just pushed back the earliest evidence of fungi by at ...

I'm an evolutionary biologist—here's why this ancient fungal fossil discovery is so revealing

Phys.org - Thu 23 May 19

Biologists don't call them "the hidden kingdom" for nothing. With an estimated 5 million species, only a mere 100,000 fungi are known to scientists. This kingdom, which includes molds, yeasts, ...

One billion year old fungi found is Earth's oldest

Phys.org - Wed 22 May 19

Scientists have unearthed fossilised fungi dating back up to one billion years, in a discovery that could reshape our understanding of how life on land evolved, research showed Wednesday.

Billion-Year-Old Fossil Fungi, Oldest Known, Revises Broader Evolution Timeline

Discover Magazine - Wed 22 May 19

The fungus among us is a key player in the ecosystem — and was part of the world hundreds of millions of years before we were. Hold on, make that potentially a billion years before we came ...

Billion-year-old fossils set back evolution of earliest fungi

Nature News - Wed 22 May 19

Nature, Published online: 22 May 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01629-1Microscopic specimens discovered in the Canadian Arctic are surprisingly intricate.

Oldest Fungus Fossils May Rewrite Our View of How Life Made the Leap to Land

Livescience - Fri 24 May 19

The find pushes the oldest direct evidence for fossils of fungus back more than 500 million years.

Billion-year-old fossils may be early fungus

Ars Technica - Wed 22 May 19

Shrooms' relatives beat us to multicellularity by a healthy margin.

Old mold: Fossil of world's earliest fungus unearthed in Canada

Reuters - Wed 22 May 19

Microfossils of a globular spore connected to a T-shaped filament excavated in an Arctic region of northwestern Canada represent the oldest-known fungus, a discovery that sheds light on the ...

Fossilized Fungus Dates Back 1 Billion Years Ago

The Scientist - Wed 22 May 19

Paleontologists find microscopic fungi in Arctic Canada that is reported to be about twice as old as the previously oldest known fossils of fungi.