Prototaxites

Either Prototaxites resembles a pine tree due to being convergent evolution from a fungus or it is a simple skyscraper eukaryote of the Ordovician period. Several ecologies have been proposed, including that it was saprotrophic like many modern fungi or that it was a lichenized autotroph on steroids.

With a diameter of up to 1 meter (3 ft 3 in) and a height reaching 8.8 meters (29 ft), Prototaxites fossils are remnants of by far the largest organism discovered from the period of its existence. Viewed from afar, the fossils take the form of tree trunks, spreading slightly near their base in a fashion that suggests a connection to unpreserved root-like structures.

Infilled casts, which may represent the spaces formerly occupied by "roots" of Prototaxites, are common in early Devonian strata. Concentric growth rings, sometimes containing embedded plant material, suggest that the organism grew sporadically by the addition of external layers. It is probable that the preserved "trunks" represent the fruiting body, or "sporophore," of a fungus, which would have been fueled by a mycelium, a net of dispersed filaments ("hyphae").

The taxonomy of Prototaxites has long been the subject of debate. It was widely considered a fungus, however recent research is challenging this classification for it has been placed into a new kingdom of Eukaryotic life which has yet to be named.

Abilities

Coming soon

Weather Phenomenon

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Ecology

Prototaxites would have been the tallest living organism in its day by far. In comparison, the plant Cooksonia only reached 6 cm and towered over the "moss forests." Invertebrates were the only other land-dwelling multicellular life. Prototaxites became extinct as vascular plants rose to prominence.

Intriguingly, Prototaxites was bored long before plants developed a structurally equivalent woody stem, and the borers may have transferred to plants when these evolved. The evolution of land plants and their colonization of terrestrial environments are among the fundamental topics within the field of geobiology.

Some researchers (like Graham et al.) proposed it was a giant mass of liverworts or cyanobacteria that rolled up into a pillar. It essentially has no living relatives—it was a biological "dead end" of an experimental era of life.

Reproduction

Since it wasn't a plant, it didn't have seeds.
Since it wasn't a fungus, it didn't have spores.
If it was a colonial organism, it likely reproduced through fragmentation (bits breaking off and starting new pillars) or spores produced by the microorganisms living within its structure.

Behavior

Coming soon

Cause of Extinction

The "Pillar of the Devonian" died out about 350 million years ago.

The Rise of Trees: As vascular plants evolved "lignin" (true wood), they were able to grow branches and leaves. They "stole" the sunlight and the nutrients, and their complex root systems broke up the ground that Prototaxites needed to stay stable.
Climate Change: The Earth’s atmosphere was changing rapidly as true forests began to regulate $CO_2$. Prototaxites couldn't adapt to the new "forest" dynamic.

Distribution and Habitat

Although traces of early land plants have been recorded from successions as old as the Ordovician, a major radiation occurred during the late Silurian and early Devonian, when plants developed more complex forms, increased in abundance, and became well established on most continents.

Long before trees overtook the land, Earth was covered by giant mushrooms 24 feet tall and three feet wide. Mushrooms are actually the reproductive manifestation of a much larger organism, a brief glimpse of the wonders that reside beneath the ground in Utah, USA.

Prototaxites is the first prehistoric fungus and has the tallest non-animal in the world, beaten by related fungi like Termitomyces titanicus and honey mushrooms.

Movement Pattern: Not a Migrant
Individual Type: Random
Population Trend: Stable
Population: none
Locomotion: Terrestrial
Habitat: Temperate Coniferous Forests; Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests; Temperate Deciduous Forests; Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Subtropical Coniferous Forests; Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Salt Flats; Stone Forest; Tropical Coniferous Forests; Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Grasslands, Savannas and Shrublands; Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Scrub; Mushroom Forests; Mushroom Fields; Deserts and Xeric Shrublands; Badlands; Flooded Grasslands and Savannas; Swamp; Bayous/Billabongs; Riparian; Wetland; Mangrove Forest; Cold Bamboo Forests; Tropical Bamboo Forests.
Medicine: human & veterinary
- Local: ✘, National: ✘, International: ✘
Food:
- Local: ✘, National: ✔, International: ✘
Earth:
- Extinct: Canada; United States
Berbania/Hirawhassa:
- Extant: none
Reinachos/Ityosel:
- Extant: none
Thatrollwa/Delphia:
- Extant: none

Tamed

Coming soon

Lore

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Known Individuals

Past and Present Incidents - Individuals

Terran/Gaian
- n/a
Berbanian/Hirawhassan
- n/a
Reinachos/Ityoselese
- n/a
Delphian/Thatrollwan
- n/a
Sawintiran
- n/a
Jotunheim
- n/a

The Recollections of Queen Arianna - Individuals

Terran/Gaian
- n/a
Berbanian/Hirawhassan
- n/a
Reinachos/Ityoselese
- n/a
Delphian/Thatrollwan
- n/a
Sawintiran
- n/a
Jotunheim
- n/a