''Cora paraminor'' is a species of basidiolichen in the family

Hygrophoraceae The Hygrophoraceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. Originally conceived as containing white-spored, thick-gilled agarics (gilled mushrooms), including ''Hygrophorus'' and ''Hygrocybe'' species (the waxcaps or waxy caps), DNA evide ...

. Found in Costa Rica, it was formally described as a new species in 2016 by Manuela Dal Forno, José Luis Chaves, and

Robert Lücking Robert Lücking (born 1964) is a German lichenologist. He is a leading expert on foliicolous lichens–lichens that live on leaves. Life and career Born in Ulm in 1964, Lücking earned both his master's (1990) and PhD degree (1994) at the Univer ...

. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''paraminor'' refers to its close relationship with '' Cora minor''. ''Cora paraminor'' is known to occur only at the type locality at the Los Santos Forest Reserve in Cerro de la Muerte. Here it grows in mountainous forest as an

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

, on the twigs and branches of trees. Its phylogenetically distinct namesake, ''C. minor'', is also found in Costa Rica, but in Chirripó National Park. The authors suggest this may represent an example of allopatric speciation resulting from geographic isolation of these two species caused by the two isolated, highest-altitude Costa Rican mountain peaks.

References

paraminor Lichen species Lichens described in 2016 Lichens of Central America Taxa named by Robert Lücking Basidiolichens Taxa named by Manuela Dal-Forno {{Hygrophoraceae-stub