Arthrobotrys blastospora sp. nov. (Orbiliomycetes): A Living Fossil Displaying Morphological Traits of Mesozoic Carnivorous Fungi

The evolution of carnivorous fungi in deep time is still poorly understood as their fossil record is scarce. The approximately 100-million-year-old Cretaceous is the earliest fossil of carnivorous fungi ever discovered. However, its accuracy and ancestral position has been widely questioned because...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of fungi (Basel) 2023-04, Vol.9 (4), p.451
Main Authors: Zhang, Fa, Boonmee, Saranyaphat, Yang, Yao-Quan, Zhou, Fa-Ping, Xiao, Wen, Yang, Xiao-Yan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adhesives
blastospores
Cretaceous
Evolution & development
fossil fungi
Fossils
Fungi
Mesozoic
Morphology
nematode-trapping fungi
Nematodes
New species
Orbiliaceae
Orbiliomycetes
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
relic species
Sediments
trapping structures
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Summary:The evolution of carnivorous fungi in deep time is still poorly understood as their fossil record is scarce. The approximately 100-million-year-old Cretaceous is the earliest fossil of carnivorous fungi ever discovered. However, its accuracy and ancestral position has been widely questioned because no similar species have been found in modern ecosystems. During a survey of carnivorous fungi in Yunnan, China, two fungal isolates strongly morphologically resembling were discovered and identified as a new species of (Orbiliaceae, Orbiliomycetes), a modern genus of carnivorous fungi. Phylogenetically, sp. nov. forms a sister lineage to . catches nematodes with adhesive networks and produces yeast-like blastospores. This character combination is absent in all other previously known modern carnivorous fungi but is strikingly similar to the Cretaceous . In this paper, we describe in detail and discuss its relationship to .
ISSN:2309-608X
2309-608X
DOI:10.3390/jof9040451