“A load of old rot”: fossil of oldest known land-dweller identified

[Confounding]

It blows my mind that we can identify the remains of an organism that died 440 million years ago.

“A load of old rot”: fossil of oldest known land-dweller identified

The earliest example of an organism living on land – an early type of fungus – has been identified. The organism, from 440 million years ago, likely kick-started the process of rot and soil formation, which encouraged the later growth and diversification of life on land.