Scientists recently found one-billion-year-old fungi in Canada, changing the way we view evolution and the timing of plants and animals here on Earth.
The fossilized specimen was collected in Canada’s Arctic by an international team and later identified to be the oldest fungi ever found, sitting somewhere between 900 million and 1.1 billion years old.
The fossilized fungi were analyzed and researchers found the presence of chitin, a unique substance that is found on the cell walls of fungi (and also arthropods!).
Finding fungi that lived 1.1 billion years ago shows us that the planet’s first life might not be how we imagined it at all (so much material for us fiction writers!).
About Greig Beck
Greig Beck grew up across the road from Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. His early days were spent surfing, sunbaking, and reading science fiction on the sand. He then went on to study computer science, immerse himself in the financial software industry, and later received an MBA. Today, Greig spends his days writing, but still finds time to surf at his beloved Bondi Beach. He lives in Sydney, with his wife, son, and an enormous German shepherd.
If you would like to contact Greig, his email address is greig@greigbeck.com and you can find him on the web at www.greigbeck.com.
Also by Greig Beck
The Alex Hunter Series
Arcadian Genesis
Beneath the Dark Ice
Dark Rising
Black Mountain
Gorgon
Hammer of God
Kraken Rising
From Hell
The Matt Kearns Series
The First Bird
Book of the Dead
The Immortality Curse
The Fathomless Series
Fathomless I
The Valkeryn Chronicles
Return of the Ancients
The Dark Lands
First published 2020 in Momentum by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd
1 Market Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000
Copyright © Greig Beck 2020
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Extinction Plague: Matt Kearns 4
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