The fossil was found by a local landowner in an area known as the Rhynie chert, a sedimentary deposit.
In a new paper, researchers said the fossilised sample backs up the theory that Prototaxites were an entirely different form of life no longer found on Earth.
Dr Sandy Hetherington, co-lead author and senior lecturer in biological sciences at the University of Edinburgh, said: “It’s really exciting to make a major step forward in the debate over Prototaxites, which has been going on for around 165 years.
“They are life, but not as we now know it, displaying anatomical and chemical characteristics distinct from fungal or plant life, and therefore belonging to an entirely extinct evolutionary branch of life.
“Even from a site as loaded with palaeontological significance as Rhynie, these are remarkable specimens and it’s great to add them to the national collection in the wake of this exciting research.”
