In Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Microbial Evolution, authors Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan say that plants and animals emerged from the "co-evolution" of fungi and algae. Without the pioneering efforts of micro-organisms, our distant ancestors could not have emerged from the sea to embark on the daunting task of conquering the land.
《演化之舞》一書寫道，動植物生命是真菌與綠藻的「共同演化」，回溯人類出現的歷史，沒有微生物這些生命先驅的努力，生命不可能走出海洋，完成征服陸地的艱困工作。