A team of international scientists carried out a study and came to the conclusion that the first mushrooms appeared much earlier - from 715 to 810 million years ago. This is 300 million years earlier than previously thought.
The researchers added that the origin of the fungi and their further development are still poorly understood. At the same time, only 2% of organisms that have ever existed on Earth are known to mycology. Previously, scientists were only sure that the first ancient mushrooms were about 460 million years old.
Now an international team of scientists has found a new fossil mushroom that is much older than the organisms that were known to researchers. After analyzing the molecular composition, scientists were able to confirm their guess about its age.
Scientists have found the remains of mycelium in ancient rocks, whose age ranged from 700 to 800 million years; samples were found during excavations in the Congo. After that, they were able to identify the age of the organisms, which coincided in period with the rocks.
For dating, they used new methods of analysis: spectroscopy with synchrotron radiation, confocal, fluorescence and electron microscopy. This made it possible to examine organic residues without chemical treatment. It also turned out that the organisms were eukaryotes, that is, their cells had a nucleus.