''Hypocenomyce'' 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 ...

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

-forming

fungi 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 family Ophioparmaceae. Species in the genus grow on bark and on wood, especially on burned tree stumps and trunks in

coniferous forest Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...

. ''Hypocenomyce'' lichens are widely distributed in the northern hemisphere.

Taxonomy

The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

in 1951 by French lichenologist Maurice Choisy to contain the single species '' Hypocenomyce scalaris'', a lichen that was first

formally described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differ ...

Erik Acharius Erik Acharius (10 October 1757 – 14 August 1819) was a Swedish botanist who pioneered the Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of lichens and is known as the "father of lichenology". Acharius was famously the last pupil of Carl Linnaeus. Life Ac ...

in 1795. Choisy's original concept of the genus featured a squamulose

thallus Thallus (: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. A thallus usually names the entir ...

, adnate

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

of the lecideine type (i.e., lacking

alga Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular microalgae, suc ...

e and an amphithecium, with a black carbonized margin as in the genus ''

Lecidea ''Lecidea'' is a genus of crustose lichen, crustose lichens with a carbon-black ring or outer margin (exciple) around the fruiting body disc (apothecium), usually (or always) found growing on (Saxicolous lichen, saxicolous) or in (Endolithic lich ...

'') and pycnoconidia that are short, straight, and cylindrical. Norwegian lichenologist Einer Timdal revised the genus in 1984, describing two new species to bring the total ''Hypocenomyce '' species up to ten. Since then, two new species have been described, and several have been transferred to other genera. Norwegian lichenologist Einar Timdal revised the genus in the mid-1980s and identified four evolutionary groups; he suggested that the genus was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

. A 2013

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 ...

study clarified the

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

relationships amongst species previously classified in the genus. It was shown that the genus–as then circumscribed–consisted of seven

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

s belonging to different genera,

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

and even subclasses. Based on these results, the genus was split into different genera – '' Carbonicola'', ''

Fulgidea ''Fulgidea'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Umbilicariaceae. It has two species of squamulose lichens that grow on bark and on wood. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 2013 by the Norwegian lichenologists Mika Bendiksb ...

'', and ''Hypocenomyce''. The ''Hypocenomyce xanthococca''

species group In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

, which had been previously raised to the level of genus as '' Pycnora'', was further split into ''Pycnora'' and '' Toensbergia''.

Species

*'' Hypocenomyce australis'' *'' Hypocenomyce castaneocinerea'' *'' Hypocenomyce scalaris'' *'' Hypocenomyce stoechadiana'' *'' Hypocenomyce tinderryensis'' – Australia Species previously classified in ''Hypocenomyce'' include: *''Hypocenomyce anthracophila'' = '' Carbonicola anthracophila'' *''Hypocenomyce caradocensis'' = ''

Xylopsora caradocensis ''Xylopsora'' is a genus of lichenized fungi, belonging to the family Umbilicariaceae. The genus was described in 2013 by Bendiksby and Timdal. Species: * ''Xylopsora canopeorum ''Xylopsora canopeorum'' is a squamulose (scaly), corticolous ...

'' *''Hypocenomyce foveata'' = '' Carbonicola foveata'' *''Hypocenomyce friesii'' = ''

Xylopsora friesii ''Xylopsora'' is a genus of lichenized fungi, belonging to the family Umbilicariaceae. The genus was described in 2013 by Bendiksby and Timdal. Species: * ''Xylopsora canopeorum'' * ''Xylopsora caradocensis ''Xylopsora'' is a genus of licheniz ...

'' *''Hypocenomyce isidiosa'' = '' Xylographa isidiosa'' *''Hypocenomyce leucococca'' = '' Toensbergia leucococca'' *''Hypocenomyce oligospora'' = '' Fulgidea oligospora'' *''Hypocenomyce praestabilis'' = '' Pycnora praestabilis'' *''Hypocenomyce rubiformis'' = '' Psora rubiformis'' *''Hypocenomyce sierrae'' = '' Fulgidea sierrae'' *''Hypocenomyce sorophora'' = '' Pycnora sorophora'' *''Hypocenomyce xanthococca'' = '' Pycnora xanthococca''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5959265 Umbilicariales Umbilicariales genera Lichen genera Taxa described in 1951 Taxa named by Maurice Choisy