January 21, 2026
Mystery tower fossils may come from a newly discovered kind of life
- Towering Prototaxites ruled Earth before trees—and they may have been a form of life entirely new to science
By Cody Cottier edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier
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Now, after comparing fossils from these cryptic organisms with fossil fungi from the same rock deposit, the authors of the new study, published today in Science Advances, conclude that Prototaxites was likely a distinct lineage. That would place it on an equal footing with the six currently recognized kingdoms of life: those of plants, animals, fungi, protists, bacteria and archaea.
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I was familiar with plants and animals. Didn’t realize that fungi was another branch. And, frankly, never heard of protists (a diverse group of mostly unicellular, eukaryotic organisms that do not fit into the animal, plant, or fungi kingdoms). Also, never got the memo that bacteria and archaea were promoted; kind like the reverse of Pluto being demoted?
Referring to the Johari window http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johari_window, there seems no end to my personal Pane Two (what I can’t see) and an equally large Pane Four (what we both can’t see).
Hopefully something in Pane Four won’t wipe out the human race?
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Reinke Faces Life 