FOSSIL FUNGI (ENDOGONACEAE) FROM THE TRIASSIC OF ANTARCTICA

Fungal sporocarps are described from Triassic silicified peat deposits from Antarctica. Sporocarps possess a two‐layered wall and contain a single spore. The outer layer is mycelial; the inner layer, noncellular. The combination of primitive and advanced features suggests that this fungus is interme...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American Journal of Botany
Main Authors: Taylor, Thomas N., White, James F.
Other Authors: National Science Foundation
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 1989
Subjects:
Antarctic
The Antarctic
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.1537-2197.1989.tb11326.x
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Description
Summary:Fungal sporocarps are described from Triassic silicified peat deposits from Antarctica. Sporocarps possess a two‐layered wall and contain a single spore. The outer layer is mycelial; the inner layer, noncellular. The combination of primitive and advanced features suggests that this fungus is intermediate in complexity between the lower and evolutionarily more advanced fungi. The Antarctic fungus and morphologically similar fossils resemble extant members of the Endogonaceae, but appear to have been saprophytes rather than mycorrhizal symbionts.

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