一篇发表于2026-01-23的报道聚焦于一种约4.07亿年前（407-million-year-old）的“原杉菌属”（Prototaxites）化石：地球上最早的大型陆地生物之一，形似树干，最高可达26英尺（≈7.9米）。该类化石最早由加拿大地质学家William Edmond Logan于1843年在加拿大魁北克Gaspé Bay岸边发现；其分类在超过150年里持续引发争论，许多研究者长期将其视为早期真菌。
一项发表于2026-01-21、刊登于Science Advances的研究主要分析了苏格兰高地发现的一件保存良好的Prototaxites taiti标本（由当地地主在“几年前”发现，现藏于National Museums Scotland）。显微观察显示其由大量相互交织的管状结构构成，类似真菌菌丝（hyphae），但排列更混乱，并且部分结构更像植物组织。化学分析表明其具有不同于同地点化石真菌的“化学指纹”，且未检测到真菌细胞壁常见的chitin与glucan。
研究者据此认为P. taiti很可能不是真菌；结合既往研究已将该属排除出其他已知大型复杂生命类群，他们提出Prototaxites可能代表一条此前未知、现已灭绝的独立谱系。该属生存于约4.20亿至3.75亿年前（跨度约4500万年），而P. taiti可能仅约1英尺（≈0.30米）高，与26英尺的上限相比约小26倍。学界认为它们可能取食腐败有机质，但当时陆地可利用有机质有限，生存与灭绝原因仍不清楚；要解决归属问题，可能需要新技术或找到具有相似化学指纹的其他化石。
An article published on 2026-01-23 focuses on a ~407-million-year-old Prototaxites fossil: among Earth’s first large land organisms, trunk-like, reaching up to 26 feet (≈7.9 m). The fossils were first found in 1843 by Canadian geologist William Edmond Logan on the shores of Gaspé Bay, Quebec, Canada; their classification has been debated for more than 150 years, with many researchers long treating them as early fungi.
A study published on 2026-01-21 in Science Advances primarily analyzed a well-preserved Prototaxites taiti specimen from the Scottish Highlands (found “a few years ago” by a local landowner and now in National Museums Scotland). Microscopy showed many interwoven tubes resembling fungal hyphae, but arranged more chaotically, with some structures more plant-like. Chemical work reported a distinct “chemical fingerprint” unlike fossil fungi from the same site, and it found no chitin or glucan, common structural components of fungal cell walls.
The team argues P. taiti is likely not a fungus; combined with prior work excluding Prototaxites from other known groups of large complex life, they propose the genus represents a previously unknown, extinct lineage. Prototaxites lived roughly 420 to 375 million years ago (a ~45-million-year span), while P. taiti may have been only about 1 foot tall (≈0.30 m), ~26× smaller than the 26-foot maximum. Researchers suspect a decaying-organic-matter diet, yet terrestrial organic matter was limited then, leaving survival and extinction unresolved; settling the placement may require new techniques or additional fossils sharing the same chemical fingerprint.