''Cameronia'' is a

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 ...

crustose lichen Crustose lichens are lichens that form a crust which strongly adheres to the Substrate (biology), substrate (soil, rock, tree bark, etc.), making separation from the substrate impossible without destruction. The basic structure of crustose lichen ...

s in the

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 ...

family Cameroniaceae. It has two species. Both the genus and its two species were described as new to science in 2011 by Australian lichenologist

Gintaras Kantvilas Gintaras Kantvilas (born 1956) is an Australian lichenologist, who earned his Ph.D. in 1985 from the University of Tasmania with a thesis entitled ''Studies on Tasmanian rainforest lichens''. He has authored over 432 species names, and 167 gene ...

. Characteristics of the genus include its chlorococcalean

photobiont A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualistic relationship.

partner, and perithecioid

ascomata An ascocarp, or ascoma (: ascomata), is the fruiting body (sporocarp (fungi), sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded ascus, asci, each of which typically contains four to ...

that are deeply immersed in the substrate. Microscopic features of ''Cameronia'' include the four-spored asci with an intensely hemiamyloid outer wall and non-amyloid, well-developed tholus (the thickened inner part of the ascus tip), and

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from , and . Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is named after its glassy appearance on fresh gross pathology. On light microscopy of H&E stained slides, the extracellula ...

, muriform

ascospore In fungi, an ascospore is the sexual spore formed inside an ascus—the sac-like cell that defines the division Ascomycota, the largest and most diverse Division (botany), division of fungi. After two parental cell nucleus, nuclei fuse, the ascu ...

s (i.e., divided into multiple chambers by transverse and longitudinal

septa SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...

). Both species are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the Tasmanian Highlands. The family Cameroniaceae was proposed by Kantvilas and H. Thorsten Lumbsch a year later, after

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

analysis showed that ''Cameronia'' belonged in the Ostropomycetidae. It was originally placed in this subclass with an uncertain (

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 ...

) ordinal position, but the Cameroniaceae is now classified in the order

Baeomycetales The Baeomycetales are an order of mostly lichen-forming fungi in the subclass Ostropomycetidae, in the class Lecanoromycetes. It contains 8 families, 33 genera and about 170 species. As a result of molecular phylogenetics research published in ...

Species

*'' Cameronia pertusarioides'' *'' Cameronia tecta''

References

Baeomycetales Lichen genera Baeomycetales genera Taxa described in 2012 Taxa named by Gintaras Kantvilas {{Lecanoromycetes-stub