Academic literature on the topic 'Fossil Fungi'

The main objective of this publication is to synthesize the available information on Indian fossil fungi published so far. It contains four main parts, Introduction, Terminology, Description and Discussion. The introductory part provides a brief account of diversity of fungal remains through the ages, scope and organization of the publication and classification of fossil fungal spores and fruiting bodies. The Terminology part defines the commonly used terms for describing fungal remains. The Description part provides description of all the fossil fungal taxa known so far from India along with their illustration, locality, age and Indian records. MycoBank number of each genus and species is also provided. Fifteen new species, viz. Dicellaesporites classicus, Dicellaesporites jainii, Dicellaesporites singhii, Foveoletisporonites keralensis, Frasnacritetrus masolensis, Fusiformisporites barmerensis, Inapertisporites chandrae, Inapertisporites karii, Inapertisporites sahii, Kutchiathyrites mehrotrae, Monoporisporites meghalayaensis, Multicellites chandrae, Pluricellaesporites himachalensis, Pluricellaesporites keralensis and Pluricellaesporites mehrotrae and twelve new combinations, viz. Kutchiathyrites perfectus (Kar et al.), Meliolinites tlangsamensis (Kar et al.), Multicellites circularis (Samant and Tapaswi), Multicellites himalayaensis (Gupta), Multicellites jainii (Gupta), Multicellites psilatus (Saxena), Multicellites ramanujamii (Gupta), Multicellites reticulatus (Samant and Tapaswi), Palaeomycites dichotomus (Kar et al.), Palaeomycites excellensus (Kar et al.), Palaeomycites globatus (Sharma et al.) and Palaeomycites minutus (Kar et al.) have been proposed. This part also records informally published fungal remains along with reference to page of their publication, illustration, horizon and age and location of occurrence. The Discussion part includes diagnostic characteristics of fossil fungal spores and fruiting bodies, general remarks on Indian fossil fungal records and stratigraphic and palaeoclimatic interpretations.

Precambrian fossils of fungi are sparse, and the knowledge of their early evolution and the role they played in the colonization of land surface are limited. Here, we report the discovery of fungi fossils in a 810 to 715 million year old dolomitic shale from the Mbuji-Mayi Supergroup, Democratic Republic of Congo. Syngenetically preserved in a transitional, subaerially exposed paleoenvironment, these carbonaceous filaments of ~5 μm in width exhibit low-frequency septation (pseudosepta) and high-angle branching that can form dense interconnected mycelium-like structures. Using an array of microscopic (SEM, TEM, and confocal laser scanning fluorescence microscopy) and spectroscopic techniques (Raman, FTIR, and XANES), we demonstrated the presence of vestigial chitin in these fossil filaments and document the eukaryotic nature of their precursor. Based on those combined evidences, these fossil filaments and mycelium-like structures are identified as remnants of fungal networks and represent the oldest, molecularly identified remains of Fungi.

A restudy of the palynology of the Whirlpool Formation and Power Glen Formation in New York (USA) yielded a diverse fossil assemblage with cryptospores, glomalean fungi, acritarchs, chitinozoans, scolecodonts, and small carbonaceous fossils. These new data, and particularly the presence of the chitinozoan index fossil Hercochitina crickmayi, combined with emerging stable carbon isotope data, suggest a Late Ordovician (Katian or Hirnantian) age for these formations, which is older than their previously suggested Silurian (Rhuddanian) age.

This review reflects on the uncertainties revolving around the origin of fungi and the paucity of the fossil record of these organisms. The main cause for the lack of fossil data is perhaps the insufficient attention these organisms have received and not that they have evaded the attempts to bring them to light. A brief review of the criteria generally used in propounding the hypothesis for the evolution of the modern fungi has also been made.

This brief history of mycology in Canada has comments on the activities of more than 200 men and women. Emphasis is on those aspects of mycology in which Canadian mycologists, plant pathologists, forest pathologists, and geneticists have pioneered or excelled. It includes their studies on fossil fungi, aeromycology, the identity of wood destroying fungi in their mycelial stages, the coevolution of parasitic fungi and their host plants, mycotoxicology, psychrophilic fungi, predacious fungi, fungal genetics, and mycorrhizae, in addition to systematics, numerical taxonomy, and the use of computers in mycology. Key words: fossil fungi, fungal genetics, coevolution, predacious, mycorrhizae, taxonomy.

The present work reveals plant and animal associates of 16 families and subfamilies of fossil beetles that have been preserved in amber from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Myanmar. The associates include mites, pseudoscorpions, spiders, insect parasites and predators, fungi, angiosperm parts, vertebrates, and nematodes. The presence of these fossil associates can be attributed to the rapid preservation of organisms in resin, thus maintaining natural associations almost “in situ”. Examples of present-day associations similar to those of the fossils show that specific behavioral patterns are often far more ancient than the specific lineages involved.