Summary:
- DNA evidence suggests that almost all fungi have a single common ancestor.
- The earliest fungi may have evolved about 600 million years ago or even earlier.
- They were probably aquatic organisms with a flagellum.
- Fossils of terrestrial fungi date back almost 400 million years.
- Fungi first colonized the land at least 460million years ago, around the same time as plants.
- They may have been the dominant life forms on Earth at that time.
- The fossil record shows fungi were abundant in many places.