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Prehistoric Life

How tall was Prototaxites?

The largest recorded Prototaxites was about 8 m (26 ft) tall.

What is measured: largest reconstructed organism, height

Prototaxites (8 m) drawn to scale beside a 20-foot shipping container (6.06 m) and a city bus (12 m)
Drawn to scale, from left to right: Shipping container (20 ft) (6.06 m), Prototaxites (8 m) and City bus (12 m).

Compare

How big is that, really?

  • About 4× as tall as a doorway
  • About 1.3× the length of a 20-foot shipping container
  • About 4.7× as tall as an adult person
  • About 67% of the length of a city bus
  • About 34% of the length of a tennis court

Learn

Facts about Prototaxites

Prototaxites formed towering trunk-like fossils in the Devonian, although scientists still debate whether it was a fungus or another kind of organism.

Source: Smithsonian Magazine, “The Giant Fungus That Once Ruled the Earth”; University of Chicago, “Prototaxites”

Prehistoric Life

NameSizeCompared with Prototaxites
Pteranodon7 m (23 ft)0.88×
Argentavis magnificens7 m (23 ft)0.88×
Megalania prisca7 m (23 ft)0.88×
Helicoprion bessonowi7.6 m (25 ft)0.95×
Ankylosaurus magniventris8 m (26 ft)same size
Prototaxites8 m (26 ft)this page
Nigersaurus taqueti9 m (30 ft)1.1×
Albertosaurus sarcophagus9 m (30 ft)1.1×
Parasaurolophus walkeri9.5 m (31 ft)1.2×
Allosaurus fragilis9.7 m (32 ft)1.2×

Test your sense of scale

Which is bigger: Prototaxites or Allosaurus fragilis?

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