Sex is the biological trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. During sexual reproduction, a male and a female gamete fuse to form a zygote, which develops into an offspring that inherits traits from each parent. By convention, organisms that produce smaller, more mobile gametes are called male, while organisms that produce larger, non-mobile gametes are called female. An organism that produces both types of gamete is hermaphrodite.
Genus is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus.
Extinction is the termination of a taxon by the death of its last member. A taxon may become functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to reproduce and recover. Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively. This difficulty leads to phenomena such as Lazarus taxa, where a species presumed extinct abruptly "reappears" after a period of apparent absence.
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispecific" or "monospecific" is sometimes preferred. In botanical nomenclature, a monotypic genus is a genus in the special case where a genus and a single species are simultaneously described.
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be endemic to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can also be referred to as an endemism or, in scientific literature, as an endemite. Similarly, many species found in the Western ghats of India are examples of endemism.
The Dactylosporaceae or Sclerococcaceae are a family of lichen-forming fungi in the class Eurotiomycetes. It is the only family of the order Sclerococcales and subclass Sclerococcomycetidae.
David Leslie Hawksworth is a British mycologist and lichenologist currently with a professorship in the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Madrid, Spain and also a Scientific Associate of The Natural History Museum in London. Hawksworth has had a prolific career, authoring nearly 600 scientific works, describing approximately 250 new taxa, and proposing around 500 new combinations or new names in fungal nomenclature. In 1996, he was honoured as Commander of the British Empire (CBE). In 2002, he received the Acharius Medal from the International Association for Lichenology. Five genera and many species have been named in his honour.
André Aptroot is a Dutch mycologist and lichenologist. His primary research focus is on biodiversity, particularly tropical lichens, encompassing systematics, floristic surveys, and taxonomic reviews. A prolific researcher, he has published more than 500 scientific papers and described hundreds of new fungal and lichen species.
Endangered species, as classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), are species which have been categorized as very likely to become extinct in their known native ranges in the near future. On the IUCN Red List, endangered is the second-most severe conservation status for wild populations in the IUCN's schema after critically endangered. In 2012, the IUCN Red List featured 3,079 animal and 2,655 plant species as endangered worldwide. The figures for 1998 were 1,102 and 1,197 respectively.
Karsteniomyces is a genus of lichenicolous fungi of unknown familial, ordinal, and class placement in the Ascomycota. The genus was circumscribed by David Leslie Hawksworth in 1980. The species of this genus are found in Europe.
Sclerococcum is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Dactylosporaceae.
Sclerococcum serusiauxii is a species of lichenicolous fungus in the family Dactylosporaceae. It was described as a new species in 1993 by Montserrat Boqueras and Paul Diederich. The type was collected in Col de la Pierre St Martin, at an altitude of 1,550 m (5,090 ft). Here, the fungus was growing on the lichen Parmelina pastillifera, which itself was growing on Pinus uncinata. The specific epithet honours Belgian lichenologist Emmanuël Sérusiaux, who collected the type specimen in 1989. S. serusiauxii has also been recorded from Montenegro.
Sclerococcum fissurinae is a species of lichenicolous fungus in the family Dactylosporaceae. Found in Alaska, it was formally described as a new species in 2020 by Sergio Pérez-Ortega. The type specimen was collected in the Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, just outside of Glacier Bay National Park. Here it was found growing on the script lichen species Fissurina insidiosa, which itself was growing on the bark of an alder tree. The specific epithet refers to its host.
Sclerococcum sipmanii is a rare species of lichenicolous fungus in the family Dactylosporaceae. Found in Malaysia, it was formally described as a new species in 2015 by Belgian mycologist Paul Diederich. The type specimen was found on the southern slope of Mount Kinabalu at an altitude of 2,800 m (9,200 ft); here, in a mossy forest on a mountain ridge, it was found growing on the lichen Anomomorpha cf. roseola. The fungus forms black, convex, rounded sporodochia typically measuring 100–200 μm in diameter; the fungus does not otherwise cause visible damage to the host lichen. Sclerococcum sipmanii is only known to occur at the type locality. The species epithet honours Dutch lichenologist Harrie Sipman, one of the collectors of the type.
Christian Leuckert was a lichen taxonomist who applied the diversity of secondary metabolites within lichens as useful taxonomic criteria. He was Director of the Institute of Plant Systematics and Plant Geography at the Free University of Berlin from the 1970s until 1995.
Polycauliona bolacina, the waxy firedot lichen, is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in western North America.
Tor Tønsberg is a Norwegian lichenologist who has made significant contributions to the taxonomy, chemistry, floristics, and phytogeography of lichens and lichenicolous fungi. Throughout his career, he has described more than one hundred species and genera new to science, advancing the knowledge of lichens in Europe and North America.
Sclerococcum toensbergii is a species of lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) fungus in the family Sclerococcaceae. It is known from only a couple of collections made in the northwestern United States, and a collection in France. In the United States, it has been recorded on the bark-dwelling lichens Megalaria pulverea and Pertusaria carneopallida, while in France, it was found growing on Caloplaca cerina.
Porpidia macrocarpa is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Lecideaceae.
