''Metus'' 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 ...

of three species of

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 ...

ized

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

Cladoniaceae The Cladoniaceae are a family of lichen-forming fungi in the order Lecanorales, comprising about 560 species distributed amongst 18 genera. This family is one of the largest among lichen-forming fungi and is globally distributed, from Arctic t ...

. 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 ...

by lichenologists

David John Galloway David John Galloway , FRSNZ (7 May 1942 – 6 December 2014) was a biochemist, botanist, and lichenologist. Biography Galloway grew up in Invercargill. After graduation from Southland Boys' High School, he studied at the University of Otago. ...

and

Peter Wilfred James Peter Wilfred James (1930–2014) was an English botanist and lichenologist. He was a pioneer in the study of lichens as environmental indicators, especially of atmospheric pollution. Early life and education Peter W. James grew up in Sutton Co ...

in 1987, with ''

Metus conglomeratus Metus may refer to: * Metus (fungus), lichenized fungi in the family Cladoniaceae * Metus or Deimos (deity), the personification of terror in Roman and Greek mythology {{Disambiguation ...

'' as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. All three species are found in the Southern Hemisphere. Galloway and James suggested a placement of the genus in Cladoniaceae, a

classification Classification is the activity of assigning objects to some pre-existing classes or categories. This is distinct from the task of establishing the classes themselves (for example through cluster analysis). Examples include diagnostic tests, identif ...

that was later supported with phylogenetic analysis.

Species

*''

'' *''

Metus efflorescens Metus may refer to: * Metus (fungus), lichenized fungi in the family Cladoniaceae * Metus or Deimos (deity) In Greek mythology, Deimos ( ) is the personification of fear. He is the son of Ares and Aphrodite, and the brother of Phobos (mytholog ...

'' *'' Metus pileatus''

References

Cladoniaceae Lichen genera Lecanorales genera Taxa described in 1987 Taxa named by David Galloway (botanist) Taxa named by Peter Wilfred James {{Lecanorales-stub