New Ancient Fungus Finding Suggests World's Forests Were Wiped Out In Global Catastrophe

ScienceDaily ^ | October 2, 2009 | Adapted from materials provided by Imperial College London

[SunkenCiv]

Tiny organisms that covered the planet more than 250 million years ago appear to be a species of ancient fungus that thrived in dead wood, according to new research published October 1 in the journal Geology. The researchers behind the study, from Imperial College London and other universities in the UK, USA and The Netherlands, believe that the organisms were able to thrive during this period because the world's forests had been wiped out. This would explain how the organisms, which are known as Reduviasporonites, were able to proliferate across the planet... By analysing the carbon and nitrogen content of the fossilised remains of the microscopic organisms, the scientists identified them as a type of wood-rotting fungus that would have lived inside dead trees... Geological records show that the Earth experienced a global catastrophe during this period... Up to 96 per cent of all marine species and 70 per cent of land species became extinct... The team reached their conclusions by analysing the carbon and nitrogen content of Reduviasporonites using a High Sensitivity Mass Spectrometer and comparing the results with those from modern fungi. They discovered that Reduviasporonites and modern fungi show similar chemical characteristics. In the future, the team plan to carry out further comparisons between Reduviasporonites and potential counterparts among modern fungi, which they hope will provide further clues about how Reduviasporonites lived.

[BlueDragon]

...book copied to open office text doc. thanks! read a large portion of it last night, came back now to steal it.