Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The defining feature of this fungal group is the "ascus", a microscopic sexual structure in which nonmotile spores, called ascospores, are formed. However, some species of Ascomycota are asexual and thus do not form asci or ascospores. Familiar examples of sac fungi include morels, truffles, brewers' and bakers' yeast, dead man's fingers, and cup fungi. The fungal symbionts in the majority of lichens such as Cladonia belong to the Ascomycota.
In zoology, megafauna are large animals. The most common thresholds to be a megafauna are weighing over 45 kg (99 lb) or weighing over 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). The first occurrence of the term was in 1876. After the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs, mammals and other vertebrates experienced an expansion in size. Millions of years of evolution led to gigantism on every major land mass. During the Quaternary extinction event, many species of megafauna went extinct as part of a slowly progressing extinction wave that affected ecosystems worldwide.
Pilobolus is a genus of fungi that commonly grows on herbivore dung.
The term Australian megafauna refers to the megafauna in Australia during the Pleistocene Epoch. Most of these species became extinct during the latter half of the Pleistocene, and the roles of human and climatic factors in their extinction are contested.
Sordaria fimicola is a species of microscopic fungus. It is commonly found in the feces of herbivores. Sordaria fimicola is often used in introductory biology and mycology labs because it is easy to grow on nutrient agar in dish cultures. The genus Sordaria, closely related to Neurospora and Podospora, is a member of the large class Sordariomycetes, or flask-fungi. The natural habitat of the three species of Sordaria that have been the principal subjects in genetic studies is dung of herbivorous animals. The species S. fimicola is common and worldwide in distribution. The species of Sordaria are similar morphologically, producing black perithecia containing asci with eight dark ascospores in a linear arrangement. These species share a number of characteristics that are advantageous for genetic studies. They all have a short life cycle, usually 7–12 days, and are easily grown in culture. Most species are self-fertile and each strain is isogenic. All kinds of mutants are easily induced and readily obtainable with particular ascospore color mutants. These visual mutants aid in tetrad analysis, especially in analysis of intragenic recombination.
The Late Pleistocene to the beginning of the Holocene saw numerous extinctions of predominantly megafaunal animal species, which resulted in a collapse in faunal density and diversity across the globe. The extinctions during the Late Pleistocene are differentiated from previous extinctions by the widespread absence of ecological succession to replace these extinct megafaunal species, and the regime shift of previously established faunal relationships and habitats as a consequence. The timing and severity of the extinctions varied by region and are thought to have been driven by varying combinations of human and climatic factors. Human impact on megafauna populations is thought to have been driven by hunting ("overkill"), as well as possibly environmental alteration. The relative importance of human vs climatic factors in the extinctions has been the subject of long-running controversy.
The Sporormiaceae are a family of fungi in the order Pleosporales. Taxa have a cosmopolitan distribution and are saprobic on dung (coprophilous) and rotting vegetation.
Coprophilous fungi are a type of saprobic fungi that grow on animal dung. The hardy spores of coprophilous species are unwittingly consumed by herbivores from vegetation, and are excreted along with the plant matter. The fungi then flourish in the feces, before releasing their spores to the surrounding area.
Sporormia is a genus of fungi in the family Sporormiaceae and part of the phylum Ascomycota. It is morphologically distinct from other genera in this family due to the orientation of cylindrical ascospores contained in a gelatinous sheath within the asci of the fruitbody. It is mostly known for being coprophilous but known to utilize wood as a substrate as well.
Polytolypa is a monotypic genus of fungus containing the single species Polytolypa hystricis. First classified in the Onygenaceae family, as of 2008 it is considered to be in the Ajellomycetaceae, although there is still uncertainty as to its phylogenetic relationships with other similar genera. This species is only known from a single specimen derived in the laboratory from a specimen of dung of the North American porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum, collected in Ontario, Canada. Polytolypa hystricis contains bioactive compounds that have antifungal activity.
Podonectria is a genus in the monotypic Podonectriaceae family of fungi. They are parasitic fungus on scale insects, other fungi, or on substrates that had previously colonized by other fungi.
Coprinopsis radiata, formerly known as Coprinus radiatus, and commonly known as the miniature woolly inky cap, is a coprophilous fungus that grows on herbivore dung. It is heterothallic.
Collariella bostrychodes is a fungal decomposer of lignin and carbohydrate in the family Chaetomiaceae commonly found in soil and dung. The fungus is distinguished by a darkened collar-like ostiole around the ostiolar pore, giving the fungus its name. The fungus is highly variable in shape and form, giving raise to the belief that there are two subclades in the species. The ascospores range from lemon-shaped to nearly spherical with slightly pointed ends. It can grow to be pale green and later turn pale bluish grey or olivaceous with age. The fungus produces the toxic secondary metabolite, chaetochromin.
Zopfiella ebriosa is an unharmful fungus discovered covering the corks of wine bottles in 1991 in Tarragona, Spain. A member of the division Ascomycota, Zopfiella ebriosa is characterized by small and asymmetrical asci, presence of ostioles, and possession of germ slits.
Podospora appendiculata is a coprophilous fungus that is most commonly found in the dung of lagomorphs, such as hares and rabbits, in temperate to warm climates. A member of the division Ascomycota, P. appendiculata is characterized by ovoid, hair-studded perithecia which can bear a distinctive violaceous colouring and peridia which are coriaceous, or leathery, in texture. Podospora appendiculata has been shown to produce three compounds with antimicrobial properties.
Triangularia setosa is a member of the Ascomycota, and of the genus Triangularia. This genus is notable for its widespread appearance on the excrement of herbivores, and is therefore seen as a coprophilous fungus. The fungus itself is characteristically dark in colour and produces sac-like perithecium with a covering of hair. Its dispersion involves the ingestion, passage, and projectile ejection of spores. It has preference for colonizing the dung of lagomorphs, such as hares and rabbits.
Ascodesmis nigricans is a coprophilous fungus that could be isolated from the dung of various animals. It was firstly introduced by Philippe Édouard Léon Van Tieghem, a French botanist, and was the type species of the genus Ascodesmis. It is an uncommon species but its development of the fruit body has been the subject of much laboratory study due to the easy nature of its cultivation. Ascodesmis nigricans is not pathogenic to human, animals or plants. This species has world-wide distribution.
Anopodium ampullaceum is a species of fungus first discovered by Nils Lundqvist in Sweden, in the year 1964. A. ampullaceum became one of the first few fungi along with Anopodium epile and Podospora dagonerii, to be placed in the new genus Anopodium due to their unique spores that did not suit the description of the spores of the Podospora genus, which P. dagonerii had previously belonged to. The genus Anopodium deviates from other members of the Sordariomycetes class by two spore characteristics; firstly the pedicels of its spore in the apical position, and secondly due to its immature spores having spherical bodies with cylindrical apical regions. As of 1998 all three of these species are now considered to be one species, using the name A. ampullaceum.
Cercophora areolata is a member of the Ascomycota division, and is grouped into the Lasiosphaeriaceae family based on morphology. C. areolata is a coprophilous fungus that has been most recently isolated from porcupine dung. Defining features of C. areolata include: 1) ovoid-conical, glabrous ascomata, 2) black, carbonaceous, areolate peridium and 3) clavate-shaped, single-walled asci. From studies on C. areolata, this fungus produces multiple antifungal compounds, which inhibit other competitor fungi.
The wood-pasture hypothesis is a scientific hypothesis positing that open and semi-open pastures and wood-pastures formed the predominant type of landscape in post-glacial temperate Europe, rather than the common belief of primeval forests. The hypothesis proposes that such a landscape would be formed and maintained by large wild herbivores. Although others, including landscape ecologist Oliver Rackham, had previously expressed similar ideas, it was the Dutch researcher Frans Vera, who, in his 2000 book Grazing Ecology and Forest History, first developed a comprehensive framework for such ideas and formulated them into a theorem. Vera's proposals, although highly controversial, came at a time when the role grazers played in woodlands was increasingly being reconsidered, and are credited for ushering in a period of increased reassessment and interdisciplinary research in European conservation theory and practice. Although Vera largely focused his research on the European situation, his findings could also be applied to other temperate ecological regions worldwide, especially the broadleaved ones.
