Biology
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Agaricomycetes, or mushrooms, are familiar, conspicuous and morphologically diverse Fungi. Most Agaricomycete fruiting bodies are ephemeral, and their fossil record is limited. Here we report diverse gilled mushrooms (Agaricales) and mycophagous rove beetles (Staphylinidae) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, the latter belonging to Oxyporinae, modern members of which exhibit an obligate association with soft-textured mushrooms. The discovery of four mushroom forms, most with a complete intact cap containing distinct gills and a stalk, suggests evolutionary stasis of body form for ∼99 Myr and highlights the palaeodiversity of Agaricomycetes. The mouthparts of early oxyporines, including enlarged mandibles and greatly enlarged apical labial palpomeres with dense specialized sensory organs, match those of modern taxa and suggest that they had a mushroom feeding biology. Diverse and morphologically specialized oxyporines from the Early Cretaceous suggests the existence of diverse Agaricomycetes and a specialized trophic interaction and ecological community structure by this early date.
Publication Title
Nature Communications
Publication Date
3-16-2017
Volume
8
ISSN
2041-1723
DOI
10.1038/ncomms14894
Keywords
fungi
Repository Citation
Cai, Chenyang; Leschen, Richard A.B.; Hibbett, David S.; Xia, Fangyuan; and Huang, Diying, "Mycophagous rove beetles highlight diverse mushrooms in the Cretaceous" (2017). Biology. 184.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_biology/184
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright Conditions
Cai, C., Leschen, R. A., Hibbett, D. S., Xia, F., & Huang, D. (2017). Mycophagous rove beetles highlight diverse mushrooms in the Cretaceous. Nature Communications, 8(1), 14894.
