''Aureofungus'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of gilled

fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

in the order

Agaricales The Agaricales are an order (biology), order of fungi in the division (mycology), division Basidiomycota. As originally conceived, the order contained all the agarics (gilled mushrooms), but subsequent research has shown that not all agarics are ...

. At present it contains the single

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

''Aureofungus yaniguaensis''. The genus is solely known from the early

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

Burdigalian The Burdigalian is, in the geologic timescale, an age (geology), age or stage (stratigraphy), stage in the early Miocene. It spans the time between 20.43 ± 0.05 annum, Ma and 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). Preceded by the Aquitanian (sta ...

stage, Dominican amber deposits on the island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

. ''Aureofungus'' is one of only four known agarics fungus species known in the fossil record and the third to be described from Dominican amber.

History and classification

The genus is known only from the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

fossil, which is a single fruiting body currently residing in the private collection owned by Yale Goldman of

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

United States. The specimen was collected in August 2000 from the Yanigua Mine, El Valle in the eastern

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. It was first studied by a group of researchers led by Dr. David Hibbett of the

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research uni ...

. Hibbett ''

et al References Notes References Further reading * * External links * {{Latin phrases E ...

'' published their 2003 type description in the journal '' Mycologia''. The generic epithet ''Aureofungus'' is

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

in derivation and means "golden fungus" while the specific epithet "''yaniguaensis''" was coined by the authors from "Yanigua" in recognition of the type locality. When described ''Aureofungus yaniguaensis'' was the fourth species of fossil agaric fungus to be described. Two species '' Coprinites dominicana'' and '' Protomycena electra'' are also from the amber mines of the Dominican Republic, while the third species '' Archaeomarasmius leggeti'' is from the older

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

age

New Jersey Amber New Jersey Amber, sometimes called Raritan amber, is amber found in the Raritan Formation, Raritan and Magothy Formations of the Mid-Atlantic states, Central Atlantic (Eastern) coast of the United States. It is dated to the Late Cretaceous, Turoni ...

. With the 2007 publication of a fifth extinct agaric species, '' Palaeoagaracites antiquus'' the age for the order was pushed back to the

Albian The Albian is both an age (geology), age of the geologic timescale and a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early Cretaceous, Early/Lower Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch/s ...

(approximately 100 Ma).

Description

The holotype of ''Aureofungus'' is a fruiting body and associated

basidiospore A basidiospore is a reproductive spore produced by basidiomycete fungi, a grouping that includes mushrooms, shelf fungi, rusts, and smuts. Basidiospores typically each contain one haploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromos ...

s. The pileus is in diameter and has a convex shape sporting a broad raised central region. The lightly textured flesh is yellow-brown in coloration and sports a striated, incurved margin. The

lamellae Lamella (: lamellae) means a small plate or flake in Latin, and in English may refer to: Biology * Lamella (mycology), a papery rib beneath a mushroom cap * Lamella (botany) * Lamella (surface anatomy), a plate-like structure in an animal * Lame ...

or gills are subdistant and lacking lamellulae, short gills which do not reach the edge of the pileus. The pileus is centered on the stipe, which is long and lacking the volva, annulus and any rhizoids. The basidiospores associated with the fruiting body are grouped in masses and appear to have been produced by the fruiting body after entombment in the resin. Each basidiospore is broadly elliptic and approximately 4.0 μm by 3.3μm. These combined characters indicate a possible relation to the modern Tricholomataceae or some of the "dusky-spored taxa" such as '' Coprinellus disseminatus''. However the thickness of the amber entombing the specimen prevented study finer details, such as spore ornamentation and pileus texture, which would have clarified the relations. As such Hibbett ''et al'' left the placement of ''Aureofungus'' as Agaricales ''

incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

''. Despite the lack of visible details, enough characters are present to distinguish ''Aureofungus'' from the three other known amber fossil species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4822293 †Aureofungus Monotypic Agaricales genera Prehistoric fungi Neogene fungi Burdigalian life †Aureofungus Natural history of Hispaniola Fossils of the Dominican Republic Neogene Dominican Republic Dominican amber Fossil taxa described in 2003

History and classification

Description

See also

References