Aureofungus

Last updated

Aureofungus
Temporal range: Burdigalian
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: incertae sedis
Genus: Aureofungus
Hibbett et al.
Species:
A. yaniguaensis
Binomial name
Aureofungus yaniguaensis
Hibbett et al.

Aureofungus is an extinct monotypic genus of gilled fungus in the order Agaricales. [1] At present it contains the single species Aureofungus yaniguaensis.

Contents

The genus is solely known from the early Miocene, Burdigalian stage, Dominican amber deposits on the island of Hispaniola. [1] [2] Aureofungus is one of only four known agarics fungus species known in the fossil record and the third to be described from Dominican amber. [1]

History and classification

The genus is known only from the holotype fossil, which is a single fruiting body currently residing in the private collection owned by Yale Goldman of Connecticut United States. [1] The specimen was collected in August 2000 from the Yanigua Mine, El Valle in the eastern Dominican Republic. It was first studied by a group of researchers led by Dr. David Hibbett of the Clark University. Hibbett et al published their 2003 type description in the journal Mycologia . [1] The generic epithet Aureofungus is Latin in derivation and means "golden fungus" while the specific epithet "yaniguaensis" was coined by the authors from "Yanigua" in recognition of the type locality. [1]

When described Aureofungus yaniguaensis was the fourth species of fossil agaric fungus to be described. Two species Coprinites dominicana and Protomycena electra are also from the amber mines of the Dominican Republic, while the third species Archaeomarasmius leggeti is from the older Cretaceous age New Jersey Amber. [1] [3] With the 2007 publication of a fifth extinct agaric species, Palaeoagaracites antiquus the age for the order was pushed back to the Albian (approximately 100 Ma). [4]

Description

The holotype of Aureofungus is a fruiting body and associated basidiospores. The pileus is 3 millimetres (0.12 in) in diameter and has a convex shape sporting a broad raised central region. The lightly textured flesh is yellow-brown in coloration and sports a striated, incurved margin. The lamellae or gills are subdistant and lacking lamellulae, short gills which do not reach the edge of the pileus. [1] The pileus is centered on the stipe, which is 0.8 by 7 millimetres (0.031 by 0.276 in) long and lacking the volva, annulus and any rhizoids. The basidiospores associated with the fruiting body are grouped in masses and appear to have been produced by the fruiting body after entombment in the resin. Each basidiospore is broadly elliptic and approximately 4.0μm by 3.3μm. [1]

These combined characters indicate a possible relation to the modern Tricholomataceae or some of the "dusky-spored taxa" such as Coprinellus disseminatus . However the thickness of the amber entombing the specimen prevented study finer details, such as spore ornamentation and pileus texture, which would have clarified the relations. [1] As such Hibbett et al left the placement of Aureofungus as Agaricales incertae sedis . Despite the lack of visible details, enough characters are present to distinguish Aureofungus from the three other known amber fossil species. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

Agaricales Order of mushrooms

The fungal order Agaricales, also known as gilled mushrooms or euagarics, contains some of the most familiar types of mushrooms. The order has 33 extant families, 413 genera, and over 13,000 described species, along with six extinct genera known only from the fossil record. They range from the ubiquitous common mushroom to the deadly destroying angel and the hallucinogenic fly agaric to the bioluminescent jack-o-lantern mushroom.

Agaricaceae Family of fungi

The Agaricaceae are a family of basidiomycete fungi and include the genus Agaricus, as well as basidiomycetes previously classified in the families Tulostomataceae, Lepiotaceae, and Lycoperdaceae.

Tricholomataceae Family of fungi

The Tricholomataceae are a large family of mushrooms within the Agaricales. Originally a classic "wastebasket taxon", the family included any white-, yellow-, or pink-spored genera in the Agaricales not already classified as belonging to e.g. the Amanitaceae, Lepiotaceae, Hygrophoraceae, Pluteaceae, or Entolomataceae.

<i>Melanoleuca</i> Genus of fungi

Melanoleuca is a poorly known genus of saprotrophic mushrooms traditionally classified in the family Tricholomataceae. Most are small to medium sized, white, brown, ocher or gray with a cylindrical to subcylindrical stipe and white to pale yellowish gills. The basidiospores are ellipsoid and ornamented with amyloid warts. Melanoleuca is considered a difficult group to study due to their macroscopic similarities among species and the need of a thorough microscopic analysis to separate species. DNA studies have determined that this genus is closely related to Amanita and Pluteus and that it does not belong to the family Tricholomataceae.

Mycenaceae Family of fungi

The Mycenaceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. According to the Dictionary of the Fungi, the family contains 10 genera and 705 species. This is one of several families that were separated from the Tricholomataceae as a result of phylogenetic analyses. Taxa in the Mycenaceae are saprobic, have a cosmopolitan distribution, and are found in almost all ecological zones. The family was circumscribed by Caspar van Overeem in 1926.

Limnoperdon is a fungal genus in the monotypic family Limnoperdaceae. The genus is also monotypic, as it contains a single species, the aquatic fungus Limnoperdon incarnatum. The species, described as new to science in 1976, produces fruit bodies that lack specialized structures such as a stem, cap and gills common in mushrooms. Rather, the fruit bodies—described as aquatic or floating puffballs—are small balls of loosely interwoven hyphae. The balls float on the surface of the water above submerged twigs. Experimental observations on the development of the fruit body, based on the growth on the fungus in pure culture, suggest that a thin strand of mycelium tethers the ball above water while it matures. Fruit bodies start out as a tuft of hyphae, then become cup-shaped, and eventually enclose around a single chamber that contains reddish spores. Initially discovered in a marsh in the state of Washington, the fungus has since been collected in Japan, South Africa, and Canada.

Nia vibrissa is a species of fungus in the order Agaricales. The species is adapted to a marine environment and is a wood-rotting fungus, producing small, gasteroid basidiocarps on driftwood, submerged timber, mangrove wood, and similar substrates. The spores have long, hair-like projections and are widely dispersed in sea water, giving Nia vibrissa a cosmopolitan distribution.

<i>Coprinites</i> Extinct genus of fungi

Coprinites is an extinct monotypic genus of gilled fungus in the Agaricales family Agaricaceae. At present it contains the single species Coprinites dominicana.

<i>Archaeomarasmius</i> Extinct genus of fungi

Archaeomarasmius is an extinct genus of gilled fungus in the Agaricales family Tricholomataceae, containing the single species Archaeomarasmius leggetti. It is known from two fruit bodies recovered from amber, one consisting of a complete cap with a broken stem, the other consisting of a fragment of a cap. The cap has a diameter ranging from 3.2 to 6 mm, while the stem is 0.5 mm (0.02 in) thick. Spores were also recovered from the amber, and are broadly ellipsoid to egg-shaped, measuring roughly 7.3 by 4.7 μm. The species, which resembles the extant genera Marasmius and Marasmiellus, is inferred to have been saprobic on plant litter or other forest debris.

<i>Protomycena</i> Extinct genus of fungi

Protomycena is an extinct monotypic genus of gilled fungus in the family Mycenaceae, of order Agaricales. At present it contains the single species Protomycena electra, known from a single specimen collected in an amber mine in the Cordillera Septentrional area of the Dominican Republic. The fruit body of the fungus has a convex cap that is 5 mm (0.2 in) in diameter, with distantly spaced gills on the underside. The curved stipe is smooth and cylindrical, measuring 0.75 mm (0.030 in) thick by 10 mm (0.39 in) long, and lacks a ring. It resembles extant species of the genus Mycena. Protomycena is one of only five known agaric fungus species known in the fossil record and the second to be described from Dominican amber.

<i>Palaeoagaracites</i> Extinct genus of fungi

Palaeoagaracites is an extinct monotypic genus of gilled fungus in the order Agaricales. It contains the single species Palaeoagaracites antiquus.

Mycetophagites is an extinct fungal genus of mycoparasitic in the order Hypocreales. A monotypic genus, it contains the single species Mycetophagites atrebora.

Entropezites is an extinct monotypic genus of [hypermycoparasitic] fungus in the order Hypocreales. At present it contains the single species Entropezites patricii.

<i>Dryinus grimaldii</i>

Dryinus grimaldii is an extinct species of wasp in the dryinid genus Dryinus. The species is solely known from the early Miocene, Burdigalian stage, Dominican amber deposits on the island of Hispaniola.

<i>Marasmius koae</i> Species of fungus

Marasmius koae is a species of agaric fungus in the family Marasmiaceae. Newly described to science in 2011, it is known only from Hawaiian montane wet forests. It produces small stemless fruit bodies that grow on the rotting wood of the flowering tree koa.

<i>Pleurocybella ohiae</i> Species of fungus

Pleurocybella ohiae is a species of agaric fungus in the family Marasmiaceae. Newly described to science in 2011, it is known only from Hawaiian montane wet forests.

<i>Volvariella surrecta</i> Species of fungus

Volvariella surrecta, commonly known as the piggyback rosegill, is an agaric fungus in the family Pluteaceae. Although rare, the species is widely distributed, having been reported from Asia, North America, Northern Africa, Europe, and New Zealand. The fungus grows as a parasite on the fruit bodies of other gilled mushrooms, usually Clitocybe nebularis. V. surrecta mushrooms have white or greyish silky-hairy caps up to 8 cm (3.1 in) in diameter, and white gills that turns pink in maturity. The stipe, also white, is up to 9 cm (3.5 in) long, and has a sack-like volva at its base.

Termitaradus dominicanus is an extinct species of termite bug in the family Termitaphididae known from a Miocene fossil found on Hispaniola. T. dominicanus is the third species in the genus Termitaradus to have been described from fossils found in Dominican amber after Termitaradus avitinquilinus and Termitaradus mitnicki.

Syndesus ambericus is an extinct species of stag beetles in the subfamily Syndesinae known from a single possibly Miocene fossil found on Hispaniola. S. ambericus is the first species of stag beetle to have been described from fossils found in Dominican amber and is one of four species from amber, and the only stag beetle species known from the Caribbean.

<i>Volvopluteus michiganensis</i> Species of fungus

Volvopluteus michiganensis is a species of mushroom in the family Pluteaceae. It was originally described under the name Pluteus michiganensis but molecular studies have placed it in the Volvopluteus, a genus described in 2011. The cap of this mushroom is about 7–9 cm (2.8–3.5 in) in diameter, gray, and has a cracked margin that is sticky when fresh. The gills start out as white but they soon turn pink. The stipe is white and has a volva at the base. Microscopical features and DNA sequence data are of great importance for separating this taxon from related species. V. michiganensis is a saprotrophic fungus that was originally described as growing on sawdust. It has only been reported from Michigan (USA) and the Dominican Republic.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Hibbett, D.S.; et al. (2003). "Another Fossil Agaric from Dominican Amber". Mycologia. 95 (4): 685–687. doi:10.2307/3761943. JSTOR   3761943. PMID   21148976.
  2. Iturralde-Vinent, M.A.; MacPhee, R.D.E. (1996). "Age and Paleogeographical Origin of Dominican Amber". Science. 273 (5283): 1850–1852. doi:10.1126/science.273.5283.1850. S2CID   129754021.
  3. Hibbett, D.S.; Grimaldi, D.S.; Donoghue, M.J. (1997). "Fossil mushrooms from Miocene and Cretaceous ambers and the evolution of Homobasidiomycetes". American Journal of Botany. 84 (8): 981–991. doi: 10.2307/2446289 . JSTOR   2446289.
  4. Poinar, G.O.; Buckley, R. (2007). "Evidence of mycoparasitism and hypermycoparasitism in Early Cretaceous amber". Mycological Research. 111 (4): 503–506. doi:10.1016/j.mycres.2007.02.004. PMID   17512712.