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Natural History: Incredibly Rare Ancient Fungal Partnership Revealed in 407-Million-Year-Old Plant Fossil
13 November 2025
By James Hamilton
By James Hamilton
Mycorrhizas in Aglaophyton majus.
Researchers from the Natural History Museum and the University of Cambridge have uncovered a new species of ancient fungus preserved inside a 407-million-year-old plant fossil from Scotland. This remarkable and incredibly rare discovery, sheds light on one of the earliest examples of a plant–fungus partnership, known as a mycorrhiza.
The fossil provides a rare three-dimensional glimpse into how early land plants worked together with fungi to survive. These partnerships, which still play a crucial role in plant nutrition and soil health today, allowed plants to exchange sugars for minerals like phosphorus, benefiting both organisms.
The newly identified fungus, named Rugososporomyces lavoisierae, formed a symbiotic relationship with the early land plant Aglaophyton majus. This is only the second fungal species known to have lived alongside this plant, highlighting that even 400 million years ago, plants were forming complex relationships with multiple fungal partners.
Dr Christine Strullu-Derrien of the Natural History Museum, who co-led the study, explained, “The fossil shows the fungus wasn’t feeding on the plant or its remains — it was a true partnership. This is the first time mycorrhizal fungi have been found in the Windyfield Chert, making this discovery incredibly rare.”
The team used cutting-edge microscopy and imaging techniques to distinguish the fungal cells from the plant tissues. By analyzing the unique light signatures of the fossilized organisms, scientists can identify ancient life forms even when their DNA is long gone.
“This approach allows us to chemically identify microscopic life in fossils with extraordinary precision,” said Dr Raymond Wightman, who led the imaging work at the Sainsbury Laboratory. “It’s opening a whole new window into life’s earliest chapters.”
The findings, published in New Phytologist, not only reveal the deep history of plant–fungus partnerships but also introduce a powerful new tool for studying ancient life. The team hopes to apply these techniques to other fossils from Scotland’s Windyfield and Rhynie cherts to better understand how early symbioses evolved and how plants and fungi first learned to coexist.
Dr Paul Kenrick, a fossil plant expert at the Natural History Museum, added: “These ancient partnerships were likely essential for plants to colonize land. Studying them helps us understand the origins of the ecosystems we rely on today.”
This discovery connects modern wildlife enthusiasts to the distant past, showing that symbioses, cooperative relationships between species, have been shaping life on Earth for hundreds of millions of years.
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