Scientists found a billion-year-old fungus, and it could change our understanding of how life migrated to land

Corentin Loron/University of Liege/Reuters

• Scientists discovered fossils of the oldest known fungus in the Canadian arctic. Fungi include mushrooms, yeasts, and molds.
• The billion-year-old fungus, called Ourasphaira giraldae, provides clues about how life may have evolved on land.
• In a new study, researchers discuss how the discovery of fungi like this one, which are more closely related to animals than plants, could indicate that animal ancestors were around 1 billion years ago.
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When single-celled organisms first came into being out of the primordial ooze, they were content to meander the oceans. But at some point around 430 million years ago, plants and early animals left their watery cradle and journeyed landward, eventually colonizing the bare expanses of our planet's continents.

Scientists posit that plants were the first pioneers to make this trek from sea to land. Now, a billion-year-old fossil discovery shows that fungi may have led the way 500 million years earlier than we thought. 

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from Business Insider http://bit.ly/2WoWbJZ