What is Prototaxites?
Prototaxites (pro-tow-TAX-i-tees) is a giant cylindrical fungus that dominated the landscapes of the late Silurian and the first half of the Devonian Period, living 420 to 370 million years ago. Prototaxites grew up to 8 m (26 ft) in height, with a diameter of up to 1 m (3.2 ft). The first research on Prototaxites was published in 1859 by Canadian scientist John William Dawson, using specimens found along the shores of Gaspé Bay in Quebec, Canada as a basis. His initial interpretation was that the organism was an early conifer being rotted by a fungus, beginning a century-and-a-half debate on the nature of the organism that was only resolved in 2007. In the early period of its dominance, Prototaxites would have been the only organism on land over a couple feet in height, as vascular plants were just starting out, and had not yet evolved true wood or leaves. It would have been spooky to view the late Silurian landscape, with nothing but a series of tall fungal monoliths towering over sh
