The rise of lichens during the colonization of terrestrial environments
The origin of terrestrial life and ecosystems fundamentally changed the biosphere. Lichens, symbiotic fungi-algae partnerships, are crucial to nutrient cycling and carbon fixation today, yet their evolutionary history during the evolution of terrestrial ecosystems remains unclear due to a scarce fossil record. We demonstrate that the enigmatic Devonian fossil <i>Spongiophyton</i> from Brazil captures one of the earliest and most widespread records of lichens. The presence of internal hyphae networks, algal cells, possible reproductive structures, calcium oxalate pseudomorphs, abundant nitrogenous compounds, and fossil lipid composition confirms that it was among the first widespread representatives of lichenized fungi in Earth's history. <i>Spongiophyton</i> abundance and wide paleogeographic distribution in Devonian successions reveal an ecologically prominent presence of lichens during the late stages of terrestrial colonization, just before the evolution of complex forest ecosystems.
Authors
- Anthony Chappaz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8713-8456)
- Nathaly Lopes Archilha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0324-3748)
- Raul O. Freitas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3285-5447)
- Michael A. Kipp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1844-3670)
- Lucas Del Mouro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7829-0683)
- Carla C. Polo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2245-7258)
- Benjamin Johnson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6925-3223)
- Duane C. Petts (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1988-5913)
- Cristiane B. Rodella (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1683-4264)
- Rodrigo Henrique dos Santos Garcia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9953-9732)
- Milene Freitas Figueiredo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7778-6190)
- Cecília Maria Alves de Oliveira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3339-5363)
- Javier Ortega‐Hernández (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6801-7373)
- Rudy Lerosey‐Aubril (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2256-1872)
- Eduardo Ribeiro DeAzevedo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2461-4755)
- Jonathan Almer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1900-2271)
- Ângela Albuquerque (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0595-0817)
- Mathieu Thoury (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8641-3791)
- Bruno Becker-Kerber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0853-7051)
- Gilmar Kerber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6135-3040)
- Janina Czas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6618-3135)
- Luiz G. F. Borges (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0988-9665)
- Gustavo Prado (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4255-6248)
- Sharif Ahmed (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3290-3592)
- Jochen J. Brocks (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8430-8744)
- Miguel Ângelo Stipp Basei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3857-7089)
- Flávio C. Vicentin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3763-4467)
- Omid H. Ardakani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8740-4654)
- Jun‐Sang Park (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3416-8130)
- Valeri G. Petkov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6392-7589)
- Hannah H. L. S. M. Pimentel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5053-3003)
- Tairine Pimentel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-3873-0228)
Institutions
- Australian National University (AU)
- Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (BR)
- Natural Resources Canada (CA)
- Argonne National Laboratory (US)
- Geological Survey of Canada (CA)
- Central Michigan University (US)
- Duke University (US)
- Iowa State University (US)
- Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
- Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) (BR)
- Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná (BR)
- Harvard University Press (US)
- Diamond Light Source (GB)
- Petrobras (Brazil) (BR)
- Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (BR)
- Groupe de Physique des Matériaux (FR)
- Laboratório Nacional de Nanotecnologia
- Universidade Federal de Goiás (BR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Published
- 2025-10-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adw7879
- Primary Topic
- Plant Diversity and Evolution
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00