The Peltigeraceae are a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 ...

s in the

order 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 ...

Peltigerales Peltigerales is an order (biology), order of lichen-forming fungus, fungi belonging to the class (taxonomy), class Lecanoromycetes in the division (mycology), division Ascomycota. The taxonomy of the group has seen numerous changes; it was former ...

. The Peltigeraceae, which contains 15

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

and about 600 species, has recently (2018) been emended to include the families Lobariaceae and Nephromataceae. Many Peltigeraceae species have large and conspicuous, leathery

thalli 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 ...

. They largely occur in cool-

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

climates. Tripartite thalli involving

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 ...

green algae The green algae (: green alga) are a group of chlorophyll-containing autotrophic eukaryotes consisting of the phylum Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister group that contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/ Streptophyta. The land plants ...

and

cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria ( ) are a group of autotrophic gram-negative bacteria that can obtain biological energy via oxygenic photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" () refers to their bluish green (cyan) color, which forms the basis of cyanobacteri ...

are common in this family.

Taxonomy

The family Peltigeraceae 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 Belgian botanist

Barthélemy Charles Joseph Dumortier Barthélemy Charles Joseph Dumortier (; 3 April 1797 – 9 July 1878) was a Belgians, Belgian who conducted a parallel career of botanist and Member of Parliament and is the first discoverer of biological cell division. Over the course of his lif ...

in 1822. Using a temporal approach that uses time-calibrated

chronogram A chronogram is a sentence or inscription in which specific letters, interpreted as numerals (such as Roman numerals), stand for a particular date when rearranged. The word, meaning "time writing", derives from the Greek words ''chronos'' (� ...

s to identify and define temporal bands for comparable ordinal and

ranks in the Lecanoromycetes, the families Lobariaceae and Nephromataceae were synonymized with Peltigeraceae in 2018. In a later critical review of the use of this method for the biological classification of lichens,

Robert Lücking Robert Lücking (born 1964) is a German lichenologist, known for his extensive research on foliicolous lichens (lichens that live on leaves) and his significant contributions to the taxonomy, ecology, and biodiversity of fungi and lichens. He e ...

considered this merge justified based on several characteristics shared by all three groups. These include "the leathery structure of their usually large and conspicuous thalli, apothecial morphology and anatomy, ascus and ascospore type, and the fact that tripartite thalli or photosymbiodemes involving green algae and cyanobacteria are common". The proposed synonymy was also accepted in a 2020 review of fungal classification. Since the two synonymized families have been widely used, and have been accepted previously as

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 ...

ally distinct

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 within older families, Lumbsch and Leavitt proposed the following

subfamilies In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zool ...

of Peltigeraceae, which "allows recognition of these well-established and monophyletic clades while avoiding confusion due to incomparable ranks of clades." :Lobarioideae :Nephromatoideae According to Lumbsch and Leavitt, Peltigeroideae becomes an

available name In zoological nomenclature, an available name is a Binomial nomenclature, scientific name for a taxon of animals that has been published after 1757 and conforming to all the mandatory provisions of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ...

that could be used to include the Peltigeraceae

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...

Genera

A 2020 estimate placed 15 genera and about 600 species in the Peltigeraceae, but two new

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 ...

genera have since been added to the family. * Lobarioideae :*''

Crocodia ''Crocodia'' is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Peltigeraceae. It has eight species. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, although most species occur in temperate and tropical regions of the Southern Hemisphere. The main character ...

'' – 5 spp. :*'' Dendriscosticta'' – 5 spp. :*''

Lobaria ''Lobaria'' is a genus of foliose lichens, formerly classified in the family Lobariaceae, but now placed in the Peltigeraceae. They are commonly known as "lung wort" or "lungmoss" as their physical shape somewhat resembles a lung, and their eco ...

'' – ca. 60 spp. :*'' Lobariella'' – 35 spp. :*'' Lobarina'' – 15 spp. :*'' Podostictina'' – 5 spp. :*''

Pseudocyphellaria ''Pseudocyphellaria'' is a genus of large, leafy lichens that are sometimes referred to as "specklebelly" lichens.Brodo, I. M., S. D. Sharnoff, and S. Sharnoff. 2001. ''Lichens of North America''. Yale University Press: New Haven. The genus has ...

'' – ca. 100 spp. :*'' Ricasolia'' – 15 spp. :*'' Sticta'' – ca. 200 spp. :*'' Yarrumia'' – 2 spp. :*'' Yoshimuriella'' – 8 spp. * Nephromatoideae :*''

Nephroma ''Nephroma'' is a genus of medium to large foliose lichens. The genus has a widespread distribution. They are sometimes called kidney lichens, named after the characteristic kidney-shaped apothecia that they produce on the lower surface of their ...

'' – ca. 36 spp. * Peltigeroideae :*'' Emmanuelia'' – 12 spp. :*''

Peltigera ''Peltigera'' is a genus of approximately 100 species of foliose lichens in the family Peltigeraceae. Commonly known as the dog or pelt lichens, species of ''Peltigera'' are often terricolous (growing on soil), but can also occur on moss, trees ...

'' – ca. 100 spp. :*'' Sinuicella'' – 1 sp. :*''

Solorina ''Solorina'' is a genus of 10 species of lichenized fungi in the family Peltigeraceae. The genus was first described by the Swedish botanist Erik Acharius Erik Acharius (10 October 1757 – 14 August 1819) was a Swedish botanist who pione ...

'' – ca. 10 spp.

Uses

Many species of Peltigeraceae have been used in studies on

environmental pollution ''Environmental Pollution'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the biological, health, and ecological effects of environmental pollution. It was established in 1980 as two parts: ''Environmental Pollution Series A: Ecological and Biologi ...

and have been utilized as

indicator species A bioindicator is any species (an indicator species) or group of species whose function, population, or status can reveal the qualitative status of the environment. The most common indicator species are animals. For example, copepods and other sma ...

for pollution,

woodland management Forest management is a branch of forestry concerned with overall administrative, legal, economic, and social aspects, as well as scientific and technical aspects, such as silviculture, forest protection, and forest regulation. This includes man ...

, and ecological continuity.

Conservation

, Peltigeraceae species that have been assessed for the global

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

are all from the genus '' Sticta'': '' S. deyana'' (

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

, 2020); '' S. carolinensis'' ( vulnerable, 2020); '' S. alpinotropica'' (endangered, 2017); and '' S. fragilinata'' (endangered, 2020).

References

{{Authority control * Lecanoromycetes families Lichen families Taxa described in 1822 Taxa named by Barthélemy Charles Joseph Dumortier