this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2025
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I thought it was fungi, as they are the ones breaking both plants and us down, are the oldest of all of us, both feed plants and us, etc.
I thought fungi was relatively new - which is why we have coal?
I am very happy to be corrected
Fungi are older than literal roots. The first land plants relied on them for nutrient exchange before evolving a radical system. My mind was blown away during a presentation by Dr. Toby Kiers about the latest research on mycorrhizal networks. They directly imaged nutrients moving both ways through those narrow filaments! Which is impressive on its own, but completely mind-fucked me when I noticed they were in real-time. https://www.spun.earth/networks/mycorrhizal-fungi
Radiolab Episode from Tree to Shining Tree (air date 7/30/2016) is a really fun episode about mushroom networks.
Fungi are much older. Source
Plants are older than thought: 500 million years old. Source
The earliest fungi started to develop 1.5 billion years ago, with other types 635 to 400 million years ago. Source
In fact, both flora and fauna can't survive without fungi. Source