When Giant Fungi Ruled

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420 million years ago, a giant feasted on the dead, growing slowly into the largest living thing on land. It belonged to an unlikely group of pioneers that ultimately made life on land possible -- the fungi.
Produced for PBS Digital Studios.
Thanks to Franz Anthony of 252mya.com and Jon Hughes of jfhdigital.com for their tremendous reconstructions of Prototaxites.
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References:
www.davidmoore.org.uk/21st_Cen...
news.nationalgeographic.com/n...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10...
www-news.uchicago.edu/releases...
www.nationalgeographic.com/sc...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
link.springer.com/content/pdf...
www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/devonian...
blogs.scientificamerican.com/...
rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.or...
books.google.com/books?id=gSA...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...
academic.oup.com/botlinnean/a...
www.atlasobscura.com/articles...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10...
www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/fungi/li...
science.sciencemag.org/content...
www.newsweek.com/fossilized-fu...
www.bbc.com/earth/story/201512...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10...
www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10...
blogs.scientificamerican.com/...
www.nature.com/articles/natur...
news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_...
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/...
science.psu.edu/news-and-event...
academic.oup.com/botlinnean/a...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10...
qz.com/630770/a-scientist-ide...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/...
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/sc... ~419mya
horseshoecrab.org/research/sit...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/...
www.cambridge.org/core/journa...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...
www.researchgate.net/publicat...
www.cambridge.org/core/journa...
www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2396...
www.academia.edu/891357/Early...
www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4094...

[@markevns1744]

Mycologists missed a great opportunity to call themselves Fungineers.

[@adjjal]

YES MARK

[@jayknight139]

It's never to late. I'll be using that from now on.

[@ProfresherBlacklight]

Its the name of a psychedelic puppet show/ band thing search on youtube :)

[@leseulmecsansnom1088]

@@jayknight139 why would they late?

[@kamerad_marzuki3631]

Big Fungus

[@miriamlogan3733]

"It's a giant mushroom! MAYBE IT'S FRIENDLY!"

[@MrJohanGuzman]

Of course it is friendly. It's a fungi.

[@trialtakagami6777]

🤣🤣🤣🤣 sokka.Musshyyy Giant friend

[@jaxxi9036]

That's enough cactus juice for you mister.

[@jhondoe4526]

If u brave enough ;)

[@randyrankin682]

P S I L O C Y B I N I S R E V E R S E P S Y C H O L O G Y

[@mauricethegecko9700]

Me: kicks mushroom Mushroom: oh, you fool. Do you know who my great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great....

[@JohnDarksoul69]

"my great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandfather helped building this world, stupid millennial!"

[@chillkrill6951]

The fungus are among us

[@sletelier8]

@@chillkrill6951 a fungus ඞ

[@thinginground5179]

@@sletelier8 fugus sus

[@destroyerofturtles5024]

@@JohnDarksoul69 his joke but worse

[@salec7592]

Hmm, the fungi seem like a go to address for our plastics pollution problem. They have long standing tradition of decomposing the toughest of materials there are.

[@pandoragoldspan7012]

there are fungi and bacteria that are discovered to decompose plastic, which is why you should never reuse Tupperware that you've let sit for weeks on end

[@quinxx12]

@@pandoragoldspan7012 These only eat certain sorts of plastics, like the ones of the rather flimsy sort

[@DatBoi-mo9vc]

@@voicelessglottalfricative6567 the video said they decompose minerals. Minerals arent organic.

[@voicelessglottalfricative6567]

@@DatBoi-mo9vc no one mentioned minerals

[@karolinakuc4783]

Fungi and bacteria do it too slow in process of digesting plastic it takes them 400years to do so and in case of single use bags 10000 years so...

[@katiekawaii]

"File it under 'Probably Weird Algae.'" "As you wish, sir."

[@lapeez2277]

probably algae or probably weird?

[@thebammer5166]

@@lapeez2277 Probably both.

[@Silkiroth]

It's amazing how alien our planet actually is and we don't even realize it.

[@CJDavis-ij4df]

I do.... Thanks DMT....

[@TheCrappyZipper]

@@CJDavis-ij4df is that what dmt does?

[@CJDavis-ij4df]

@@TheCrappyZipper DMT has the power to show you where/who you were before you were even born

[@Giganfan2k1]

Its entirely possible.

[@takeiteasydudebuttakeit596]

Hahhah0 oh boy, please try it and then tell me the same thing.

[@chironOwlglass]

Never have i ever had the thought "YES, I need to watch this" quite so strongly as I did when I saw this video title. Show me the fungi, Blake. Show me the fungi.

[@devonhedinger4132]

All the fungi🍄🍄🍄

[@cheemsandbeans7952]

I wish I had a time machine to witness all these amazing things.

[@notmyopinion4981]

fun fact: without protective gear you would literally kill everything on earth, bc your body is used to stronger more adaptive gems and bacteria, which have evolved over millions of years, which the animals and plants from before are not equipped to handle. In other words: You bring illness to them, illness that you don't know as illness, bc it doesn't effect you at all, bc it's so weak compared to your immune system. But it would kill everything else that didn't have the millions of years to adapt like your body did. :P

[@Shrekfromthehitmovieshrek]

@@notmyopinion4981 big suit

[@mazedude5911]

I know

[@shillian4770]

@@notmyopinion4981 good

[@nick.3455]

@@notmyopinion4981 Bruh what other way would this guy explore what he would apparently kill then. Just ignore those things

[@SAMURIADI]

so life started thanks to a 8 meter mushroom, minecraft is realistic after all

[@merrittanimation7721]

SAMURIADI Apparently

[@leovigild_]

Yeah, those mushroom biomes are just piles of rock that are transitioning to a beautiful, luscious, boxy forest.

[@bulletsfordinner8307]

There was life before the shroom

[@zackwood8310]

Roblox is shook

[@Lumberjack_king]

Mooncraft

[@Rnt911]

Finally someone talks about the importance of fungi to life on land.

[@pluspiping]

"They digest rock to create soil, and derive life from death" That's metal as all hell. All hail fungi.

[@lovehonourhonour7253]

"All we are saying, is give Yeast a chance" - John Lennon

[@juliankirby9880]

Love & Honour Honour you ever listen to the Yeastie boys? What about Bruce Springsteen and Yeast street band?

[@nmarbletoe8210]

"What you did to the yeast among ye, ye did that to me." -Jesus

[@DJCallidus]

John Leaven 🍞

[@NotHPotter]

Came for the Carbon 12. Was not disappointed.

[@NinaDmytraczenko]

+

[@TheDigitalNerd]

400th like

[@baconology]

Michael Wade why do you need 12, seems greedy

[@RustOnWheels]

You’re such a fungi.

[@cauchyhorizon5983]

Imagine if, in the future, we use fungi to make Martian soil arable!

[@nittygritty7034]

The Improbable Space That's a badass idea

[@cauchyhorizon5983]

For one, I'm not talking about growing food on Mars for sending it to Earth, I'm talking about feeding Martian colonists living on Mars permanently (If you were wondering). Secondly, you could use modified Martian soil in the food-growing towers (not everything can be grown hydroponically). And Earth won't be sending back Earth soil for the same reason Mars won't be sending back Mars produce: Each planet needs it for themselves, and it's just too much mass to be travelling between the planets. As a side note, if we were to terraform Mars, we wouldn't necessarily need to make all the soil arable anyway. Not for a very long time, at least.

[@alexanderx33]

Synerrox เ Think about what you are saying there. You think it would be more efficient to build a structure that would cost alot in design, foundation preperation, and construction to increase the number of plants relative to light energy available by 40, 50 times? Depending in the number of floors, which is partially moderated by the shadow the tower casts when its not noon but not really because then it is shading other towers. On a planet that aleady has way less light intensity due to the inverse square law than where we grow crops now? Im sorry but, crops need full sun (at earth's distance) to have enough energy available to make sugars. Farming on mars would require magnification of solar radiation to work, not dilution.

[@alexanderx33]

Synerrox เ So you are saying it would be better to have warehouses growing the plants hydroponically with electricity (which could be derived either from mirror concentrated solar power or, more likely, from nuclear power.) And avoid the problem of procuring soil on a planet where the dust is toxic to nearly all living things. It would also avoid loosing the precious little water available on mars from heating martian soil, to infiltration back into the ground.

[@bryanroland8649]

So what would the fungi eat?

[@blanchekonieczka9935]

I love this guy! He's enthusiastic and his fast talking gets to the point quickly. So much information given in half the time it would take other narrators. He made fungi exciting! Thank you!

[@mercut10]

He's just like Howard Hamlin fr !

[@allen-castle]

​@@mercut10LMFAO

[@ccreed50]

Too speedy. c.f. Attenborough

[@TK199999]

I always assumed the reason the giant fungi went away, is because when vascular plants appeared, there didn't need to be giant anymore. Meaning once the symbiotic relationship with vascular plants began, fungi didn't need create the large trunk like structure. They could stay at or below ground and live that way.

[@RoccosVideos]

So one might say there’s fungus among us.

[@4qtips]

no

[@tarantulaman3221]

@Dunkldosteus Plants V.S. Zombies LOL!

[@grenolf]

You might even say there was Humungus Fungus Among Us...

[@NiffirgkcaJ]

Wait…

[@iffatsukabumiKingOfHell]

I thought this was an Among us joke but i looked the time this was commented it was two years ago

[@Eveseptir]

These primordial fungi always fascinated me. I try to imagine the landscape littered with tiny shrubs and mosses and doted with these massive fungus obelisks.

[@matthewcox7985]

Meet the life of the party, he's a real fungi! ...I hear crickets...

[@KvDenko]

What do you call a mushroom? A fun-gi to be with!

[@po-qo7vd]

Asked to buy a fungi on cregs list, i was dissappointed.

[@theponydalek7923]

Cordycepts: Sorry, that's just me...

[@Acidfrog475]

You see a small smile on my face

[@shannonleary2399]

THERE IT IS

[@ramironunezborjas967]

"the fun in fungi" that really cracked me up, it made my day

[@ZackWilliamsPANCAKE]

Welp, my D&D campaign just got more interesting

[@the_void996]

How’d the campaign go?

[@stowe5668]

Yeah I wanna hear what happened

[@user-hello2]

I want to hear what happened too!

[@rosanirodrigues557]

I want to know too! Sounds interesting!

[@DCDevTanelorn]

As a mycologist I approve this episode

[@duhduhvesta]

DCDevTanelorn +

[@bernardfinucane2061]

Then maybe you can give us a clue why these things got so big. Trees get big because they compete for sunlight. But theses things were "eaters", as the video puts it. So what was the point of growing tall?

[@WigantX]

might be the absense of competitors, easy access to nutrients, huge amounts of oxygen and the like?

[@alexisfloresmedina7041]

Bernard Finucane May be that the pillars were so big because it was a structure to spread spores like the fructiferous body in current fungi

[@EvilSnips]

That is a cool job! I have been thinking of becoming some sort of biologist but not something typical like a marine biologist or a zoologist. Maybe an entomologist?

[@minacapella8319]

I've always adored mushrooms and felt they were special (as well as delicious). This... really makes me feel even more adoration for mushrooms and other fungi

[@TheKarachiwanderer]

Seems like you are suffering from mycophilia

[@MrJDozzo]

"Animal, plant or mineral" ah yes, the three genders

[@dadadede9359]

I am identified as a plant and this video offends me

[@buckerupfpv2622]

@@dadadede9359 yes you r potato.

[@desertflower3996]

I'm a lichen. 🙂

[@OsirusHandle]

Are we singular entity, or are we just the delusions of a compound...

[@yeepyorp]

@@dadadede9359 one joke

[@MrStensnask]

THE EVOLUTION OF EGGS. Would be entertaining.

[@andrep4805]

Omg my mind was blown so many times in so few minutes. I've never heard of ancient fungi being described, and I didn't know those facts about lichen either. I have a thousand new questions! Thanks!

[@gocoogs01]

earth: **exists** fungus: its free real estate

[@sakshamyasholiya6942]

🌲's After Several Years : Im bout to end this man's whole Career !

[@whhe11]

Any habitable planet: exists Hardy dehydrated fungal spores floating in space probably: it's free realestate

[@prexsan]

@@hemishshah6666 Yo seriously!LMAO~\(≧▽≦)/~

[@pokegard]

Hasent earth always been free real estate unless your neighbors keep killing you or taking your resources?

[@gustavosantiago3367]

Arbiter: What is it? More Covenant? MasterChief: Worse..

[@deazy6453]

The Flood has giving me a weird thing where I gag whenever I see fungi (breathing). It looks so gross, and I want to shoot it with my Battle Rifle lol

[@Naiadryade]

Fungi are amazing. I love the way we owe our whole lively world to them.

[@MorbidEel]

They are also delicious.

[@Naiadryade]

Morbid Eel, just make sure you've got the right ones! They can also be deadly. LagiNaLangAko23, I know! A fascinating group. I've seen some real cool nature documentaries featuring some of them.

[@felipewerner6670]

not only our lives, but our consciousness, imagine a primitive humanoid tracking some animal, and sundenly he found some poop and some mushrooms, he is hungry and eat the mushy, massive information flood his little brain, and in aeons and aeons in this relation, the human mind is born.

[@NathanWubs]

I am on team fungi

[@AllisonChains64]

I love fungi and your picture!

[@nilspace5233]

Next time I look at the giant fungi on my feet, I'll look at it with more love and caress and kiss it and say "thank you"

[@dannyboots]

ew

[@styromaniac6967]

I owe my life to fungi. They can be symbiotic to humans, internally.

[@alisoncircus]

And parasitic. They'll fill any niche they're not kicked out of. But everything living above water owes it's life to fungi. That's the actual point.

[@ooooneeee]

Yeah some yeast in our gut flora can help us digest food.

[@thefurrybastard1964]

Thank you PBS Eons for taking us all on this amazing journey.

[@crimsonking8811]

I would love to see a video on the evolution of fungi. Any way that could happen?

[@cadenrolland5250]

Great idea. That video would put some more fun in fungi.

[@Hellheart]

I was just coming to comment this same thing. Great minds, eh?

[@NinaDmytraczenko]

+

[@duhduhvesta]

Crimson King +

[@marekdzurenko3449]

Not that simple, since we really don't have much fossil evidence to make a complete picture. Fungi have soft bodies and don't fossilize well.

[@horsymandias-ur]

From what I’ve seen, Fungi are perhaps the most underrated organisms of all time. Almost NO ONE seems to appreciate the vast contributions they have made, not in the only the past, but still today as well

[@kramarkml]

Mushrooms of the same species will sprout at the same time across the 🌎. Coral reefs have a similar kind of connection

[@hairutheninja]

Everytime I watch an episode of this it makes me wish so badly I could travel back in time to see stuff happen or just exist

[@gwenxel4434]

Thanks so much for making this!

[@duhduhvesta]

More like this! Insect, plant and fungus evolution is very rarely talked about. This stuff is great

[@24emerald]

Yes, awesome video...

[@rogerdotlee]

Blake, you are such a fun-guy. You grow on people. Har har. Loved that trunk pun as well. As far as what I'd like to see, I'd like to see the great extinction events get the PBS Eons treatment.

[@Lippdinos]

Such an awesome series of documentaries! I loved discovering these new facts. Thanks!

[@judeorbe3948]

the fungi are underrated gems they tend to get overshadowed by plants and animals ignoring the fact they cause diseases their not to bad

[@bswtsp21]

I wonder how it tasted....?

[@abramthiessen8749]

I was waiting for this episode to come. Thank you.

[@duhduhvesta]

Abram Thiessen +

[@s6t6nourlord48]

that giant fungi was so cool 2:32 420 milion years!? awesome

[@rx-0862]

Everyone: “oooh informative” Me: “hmm wonder if can i eat them ancient shrooms”

[@Zer0TheProdigy]

Man I thought Fungi were interesting when I started getting involved in psychadelics. I hadn't realized until recently that they are pretty much the progenitors of most life as we know it

[@AlfredTheBrave]

mushrooms made themselves psychedelic so they could transfer their ancient wisdom to whoever/whatever could understand it

[@remynettheim4918]

WOLVES WWFC1887 bruh

[@rakbar6509]

@@AlfredTheBrave brrrruuh

[@someguy2135]

@@AlfredTheBrave Also, the universe created man to appreciate it. As Carl Sagan said, "The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself."

[@shillian4770]

@@someguy2135 what magic mushrooms do to you is so awesome yet extremely chaotic and quite frankly terrifying.

[@IuliusPsicofactum]

I don't know who you are but you are a cool guy, stick around the channel, it was a pleasure to have you as host.

[@eons]

Hey thanks! (BdeP)

[@exitolaboral]

Thanks for this video!

[@troncarter777]

Thank you so much! You're a very good teacher and i love the way you explain you're topics! it makes the subject matter easy to learn and fun! i truly look forward to your videos!

[@brendarua01]

I can hear it saying, "Feed me, Seymore!" But seriously, this was really interesting and filled in a big gap I had. Thanks!

[@catherine_404]

Every time I see Blake, I feel slightly intimidated.

[@zuakaa]

Amazing video! So comprehensive. Thanks!

[@nashaiti]

Plus some more info on fungi,thanks for the great vids guys

[@Viatoreptil]

Ah! Prototaxites! Love you guys! Great presentation as always.

[@orangecamo1]

We need a poster of geological eons like they did for crash course chemistry.

[@eons]

Oo, that's a great idea! (BdeP)

[@orangecamo1]

Somebody tell Hank!

[@rojorohr4723]

I'd love a calendar (;

[@arnbrandy]

No, thank YOU, Blake, for being the fun guy putting the fun in Fungi.

[@MtnTow]

First signs of conscientious actions would be a cool topic.

[@maxxfioriti7494]

1)Evolution of Eukarya and division into kingdoms 2)What are protists, and how are they related? 3)Molecular Evolution: how we use proteins, molecules, and genomes to piece together evolutionary relationships

[@duhduhvesta]

Maxx Fioriti +

[@feynstein1004]

I think Martinus lutherus was the first protist after it became distinct from the existing Catholi genus :P

[@amyp.575]

Yeah!! All these!! All these!! All these!!

[@sircharlesmormont9300]

Your videos are so addictive! It's *noon* and I've been watching all day. I can't stop watching! You guys do an excellent job of presenting interesting information in a clear and entertaining way. Keep up the great work!

[@nickinurse6433]

I listen to eons or PBS space-time every night to go to sleep just put it on shuffle and wake up smarter

[@jamesbentonticer4706]

These PBS shorts are my new favorite on youtube. Our past is so interesting.

[@xtrri2090]

"Thanks for putting the fun in fungi with me today" Ha, I laughed so hard. Funny gi.

[@marccolten9801]

People have been punched in the face for less.

[@onardico]

A future video about the ancient coral reefs please, thanks

[@Zanza300]

I LOVE THIS CHANNEL. THIS BLEW MY MIND.

[@yourmother9834]

Love this guy! Im hooked on these videos now

[@brianmartinez749]

Wow such a cool video! Thanks for uploading!

[@SB-qm5wg]

Love the channel. Cheers

[@aabaz202]

I literally love when I see you guys post a video. It’s always well done and informative

[@STrouwborst]

Thank you for another great, easy to understand, video. I've enjoyed it.

[@ayior]

Just discovered this channel and wooow, so many interesting subjects. Subscribed for later bingewatching.

[@judefrancisco1463]

Fungi are the best recyclers of ecosystem. Without them nutrients cannot be available in every organism. Thanks PBS Eon for this awesome video! More power to your channel.

[@HoopsAndDinoMan]

I love this channel.

[@bvandersonify]

What a great video! Way to go PBS!

[@thekarmafarmer608]

Very interesting. Thank you for posting

[@arielmalsireal5453]

Now That Is Certified The Last Of Us

[@Hellheart]

I like Blake. I wanted to see more of him after seeing him host SciShow Quiz Show. Glad that he drew hosting duty on Eons.

[@chronus4421]

Thanks PBS!

[@Ekaterina12ification]

Thank you!

[@maryh5748]

Wow never heard of this! Learned something new, Thx's

[@DrakosAmatras]

> When Giant Fungi Ruled THE MI-GO WERE REAL

[@koisov4401]

the what

[@Ploskkky]

Fascinating video. Thank you.

[@sharonreeve7509]

I really enjoyed this!

[@iamjeeves]

I learn more from this show than 3 years of college biology classes...

[@samanthazelner1113]

I enjoyed this episode very much thank you.

[@duhduhvesta]

Samantha Zelner +

[@yeetman4953]

@@duhduhvesta what is with your plus

[@vickilindberg6336]

Amazing. I'd never heard of this. Thanks.

[@chaegibson720]

Okay so I've know about this whole mushroom thing for s long time, but I have a fossil that my friend found when he was hiking in the mountains, and we've had no idea what this fossil was, but looking at the inner structures I just had a eureka moment and I think this is exactly what that is

[@Infamous41]

I love the internet being my full time education

[@52memor]

incredible !!!! thanks

[@HonorTrees]

That was fun, thanks guy.

[@macnutz4206]

Thank you. I had wondered how rooted plants and managed to live in soil with no usable organic matter. Now it seems the answer should have been obvious.

[@MuhammadSalmanAAP]

Beautifully written, beautifully narrated. The video is just perfect

[@JasonPuckettNY]

these are so good, i love you all

[@yctan97]

0:22 the FUN GUY!

[@MsJeanneMarie]

I love people that teach me interesting things. ❤️

[@Coillcara]

Awesome show, thank you! What I want to know is why no proto insect fossils were found? Insects seem to appear with all the modern features we see today. Or do I miss something? Love the series!

[@nexuswave1984]

Wow! This video was so much fun, guy!😆

[@bluemoon9346]

I love these thumbnail illustrations on this channel!!

[@doppelminds1040]

Fungi are so metal

[@vicariousgamer2871]

Mushroom at the bar, "Beer me bartender." Bartender, "We don't serve mushrooms." Mushroom, "Hey , I'm a fungi !"

[@blahthebiste7924]

Boo

[@luciaryan6063]

blahthebiste that didnt scare me

[@blahthebiste7924]

*Throws tomato*

[@anndriggers6660]

Hardy harhar

[@the_void996]

This is great.

[@andresreneau6447]

A very informative video!

[@anthonymaddaford8474]

This channel is ideal to leave on as you fall asleep. And I mean that as a compliment 👏👍

[@Carbonoid1]

The whole dirt thing was something I was super curious about so thanks for that! I'd love to know how both plants and animals evolved thorns and spines!

[@Thegardenbetweenus]

Thorns are modified leaves. To defend againts predation. Many people think evolution is filled with trial and errors, when in reality nature is quite intelligent. It can respond with proper adaptations quite quickly.

[@Thegardenbetweenus]

Vertebrae had its start in fungi...well the nervous system anyway. It become adopted by early arthropods and so on.