Prototaxites

Prototaxites
Temporal range:
Branching apex of P. loganii, "Schunnemunk tree"
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Stem group: Ascomycota
Family: Prototaxitaceae
Hueber
Genus: Prototaxites
Dawson, 1859
Type species
Prototaxites loganii
Dawson, 1859
Species
  • P. caledonicus (Lang, 1926) (Schmidt & Teichmüller, 1954)
  • P. clevelandensis (Chitaley, 1992b)
  • P. forfarensis (Kidston, 1897) Pia
  • P. hicksii (Etheridge, 1881) (Dawson, 1881)
  • P. honeggeri (Retallack, 2019)
  • P. loganii (Dawson, 1859)
  • P. ortoni (Penhallow, 1896)
  • P. psygmophylloides (Kräusel & Weyland, 1930) ex (Kräusel & Weyland, 1931)
  • P. saharianum (Chiarugi, 1934)
  • P. southworthii Arnold, 1952
  • P. storriei (Barber, 1892)
  • P. taiti (Kidston & Lang, 1921)
Synonyms
  • Celluloxylon (Dawson, 1881)
  • Germanophyton (Høeg, 1942)
  • Nematophycus (Carruthers, 1872)
  • Nematophyton (Dawson, 1888)
  • Nematoxylon (Dawson, 1863)

Prototaxites /ˌprtˈtæksɪtz/ is an extinct genus of large macroscopic eukaryote dating from the Late Silurian until the Late Devonian periods. Prototaxites formed large trunk-like structures up to 1 metre (3 ft) wide, reaching 8 metres (26 ft) in length, made up of tiny interwoven tubules around 50 micrometres (0.0020 in) in diameter, making it by far the largest land-dwelling organism of its time.

The taxonomy of Prototaxites has long been the subject of debate. It is widely considered a fungus, but the debate is ongoing. Its exact relationship with extant fungus lineages is uncertain. It was almost certainly a perennial organism that grew over multiple years. Several ecologies have been proposed, including that it was saprotrophic like many modern fungi, or that it was a lichenised autotroph.