Biology
Is Phellinites digiustoi the oldest homobasidiomycete?
Abstract
The oldest generally accepted fossil of mushroom-forming fungi (homobasidiomycetes) is Phellinites disgiustoi, from the Jurassic of Patagonia. The next-oldest homobasidiomycete fossil does not occur until about 70 million years later, in the mid-Cretaceous. The goal of this project was to reassess the identity of Phellinites and refine the minimum-age estimate for the origin, but there are no hypae, spores, or other fungal structures. Rather, Phellinites was found, and so it is plausible that Phellinites is the bark of an Araucaria-like tree. The minimum age of the mushroom-forming fungi, based on direct fossil evidence, is revised to the mid-Creaceous.
This paper has been withdrawn.
