Abstract
Although there have been scattered reports of fossil fungi and funguslike organisms for more than 150 years, fungi have been largely ignored when interpreting the complexity and functioning of terrestrial paleoecosystems. To a large degree this is because fungi were long thought to be too delicate to be sufficiently preserved, and those who might discover them demonstrated insufficient interest and did not possess the appropriate training. Some of the methods traditionally used in the study of fossils have also contributed to a lack of recognition of the diversity of fungi in the fossil record. Today the importance of fungi as major constituents of ecosystem function is a primary focus of mycology. As a result, there has been a paradigm shift in the appreciation of the fungal world in time and space, including fungal diversity in ancient ecosystems. This chapter includes examples of fossil fungi from each of the major lineages and describes our current level of information about their morphology, biology, and evolution. It also provides some directions for future studies of fossil fungi and identifies some questions that only the fossil record can answer.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Andrews HN Jr (1980) The fossil hunters: in search of ancient plants. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY
Barthel M, Krings M, Rössler R (2010) Die schwarzen Psaronien von Manebach, ihre Epiphyten, Parasiten und Pilze. Semana 25:41–60
Batra LR, Segal H, Baxter RW (1964) A new Middle Pennsylvanian fossil fungus. Am J Bot 51:991–995
Baxter RW (1960) Sporocarpon and allied genera from the American Pennsylvanian. Phytomorph 10:19–25
Baxter RW (1975) Fossil fungi from American Pennsylvanian coal balls. Univ Kansas Paleontol Contrib 77:1–6
Belova MY, Akhmedov AM (2006) Petsamomyces, a new genus of organic-walled microfossils from the coal-bearing deposits of the Early Proterozoic, Kola Peninsula. Paleontol J 40:465–475
Beimforde C, Schäfer N, Dörfelt H, Nascimbene PC, Singh H, Heinrichs J, Reitner J, Rana RS, Schmidt AR (2011) Ectomycorrhizas from a lower Eocene angiosperm forest. New Phytol 192:988–996
Berbee LM, Taylor JW (2001) Fungal molecular evolution: gene trees and geologic time. In: McLaughlin DJ, McLaughlin EG, Lemke PA (eds) The Mycota VIIB. Systematics and evolution. Springer, Berlin, pp 229–245
Bidartondo MI (2005) The evolutionary ecology of myco-heterotrophy. New Phytol 167:335–352
Blair JE (2009) Fungi. In: Hedges SB, Kumar S (eds) The timetree of life. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 215–219
Boullard B, Lemoigne Y (1971) Les champignons endophytes du Rhynia gwynne-vaughanii K. & L. Étude morphologique et deductions sur leur biologie. Botaniste 54:49–89
Boyce CK, Hotton CL, Fogel ML, Cody GD, Hazen RM, Knoll AH, Hueber FM (2007) Devonian landscape heterogeneity recorded by a giant fungus. Geology 35:399–402
Bradley WH (1967) Two aquatic fungi (Chytridiales) of Eocene age from the Green River Formation of Wyoming. Am J Bot 54:577–582
Bray PS, Anderson KB (2009) Identification of Carboniferous (320 million years old) class IC amber. Science 326:132–134
Brundrett MC (2009) Mycorrhizal associations and other means of nutrition of vascular plants: understanding the global diversity of host plants by resolving conflicting information and developing reliable means of diagnosis. Plant Soil 320:37–77
Burgess ND, Edwards D (1988) A new Palaeozoic plant closely allied to Prototaxites Dawson. Bot J Linn Soc 97:189–303
Butterfield NJ (2005) Probable proterozoic fungi. Paleobiology 31:165–182
Cantrell SA, Dianese JC, Fell J, Gunde-Cimerman N, Zalar P (2011) Unusual fungal niches. Mycologia 103:1161–1174
Cash W, Hick T (1879) On fossil fungi from the lower coal-measures of Halifax. Proc Yorkshire Geol Polytech Soc 7:115–121
Caspary R, Klebs R (1907) Die Flora des Bernsteins und anderer fossiler Harze des ostpreußischen Tertiärs. Abh Königl Preuß Geol Landesanst 4:1–181
Cloud P (1976) Beginnings of biospheric evolution and their biogeochemical consequences. Paleobiology 2:351–387
Currah RS, Stockey RA, LePage BA (1998) An Eocene tar spot on a fossil palm and its fungal hyperparasite. Mycologia 90:667–673
Daghlian CP (1978) A new melioloid fungus from the Early Eocene of Texas. Palaeontology 21:171–176
Daugherty LH (1941) The Upper Triassic Flora of Arizona. Carnegie Inst Washington 526:1–108
Dennis RL (1970) A middle Pennsylvanian basidiomycete mycelium with clamp connections. Mycologia 62:578–584
Dennis RL (1976) Palaeosclerotium, a Pennsylvanian age fungus combining features of modern Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes. Science 192:66–68
Dilcher DL (1965) Epiphyllous fungi from Eocene deposits in western Tennessee, USA. Palaeontographica 116B:1–54
Ding ST, Sun BN, Wu JY, Li XC (2011) Miocene Smilax leaves and associated epiphyllous fungi from Zhejiang, East China and their paleoecological implications. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 165:209–223
Dörfelt H, Schmidt AR (2005) A fossil Aspergillus from Baltic amber. Mycol Res 109:956–960
Dotzler N, Krings M, Taylor TN, Agerer R (2006) Germination shields in Scutellospora (Glomeromycota: Diversisporales, Gigasporaceae) from the 400 million-year-old Rhynie chert. Mycol Progr 5:178–184
Dotzler N, Walker C, Krings M, Hass H, Kerp H, Taylor TN, Agerer R (2008) Acaulosporoid glomeromycotan spores with a germination shield from the 400-million-year-old Rhynie chert. Mycol Prog 8:9–18
Dotzler N, Taylor TN, Galtier J, Krings M (2011) Sphenophyllum (Sphenophyllales) leaves colonized by fungi from the Upper Pennsylvanian Grand-Croix cherts of central France. Zitteliana A 51:3–8
Dufrêne YF, Boonaert CJP, Gerin PA, Asther M, Rouxhet PG (1999) Direct probing of the surface ultrastructure and molecular interactions of dormant and germinating spores of Phanerochaete chrysosporium. J Bacteriol 181:5350–5354
Edwards D, Axe L (2012) Evidence for a fungal affinity for Nematasketum, a close ally of Prototaxites. Bot J Linn Soc 168:1–18
Elsik WC (1996) Fungi. In: Jansonius J, McGregor DC (eds) Palynology: principles and applications, volume 1 – principles. AASP Foundation, College Station, Texas, pp 293–305
Eshet Y, Rampino MR, Visscher H (1995) Fungal event and palynological record of ecological crisis and recovery across the Permian–Triassic boundary. Geology 23:967–970
Fleischmann A, Krings M, Mayr H, Agerer R (2007) Structurally preserved polypores from the Neogene of North Africa: Ganodermites libycus gen. et sp. nov. (Polyporales, Ganodermataceae). Rev Palaeobot Palynol 145:159–172
Fletcher BJ, Beerling DJ, Chaloner WG (2004) Stable carbon isotopes and the metabolism of the terrestrial Devonian organism Spongiophyton. Geobiology 2:107–119
Gadd GM (2008) Bacterial and fungal geomicrobiology: a problem with communities. Geobiology 6:278–284
Galtier J, Phillips TL (1999) The acetate peel technique. In: Jones TP, Rowe NP (eds) Fossil plants and spores: modern techniques. The Geological Society, London, pp 67–70
García Massini JL (2007) A possible endoparasitic chytridiomycete fungus from the Permian of Antarctica. Palaeontol Electron 103:16, 14 p, http://palaeo-electronica.org/2007_3/121/index.html
García Massini J, Channing A, Guido DM, Zamuner AB (2012) First report of fungi and fungus-like organisms from Mesozoic hot springs. Palaios 27:55–62
Gensel PG, Chaloner WG, Forbes WH (1991) Spongiophyton from the late lower Devonian of New Brunswick and Quebec, Canada. Palaeontology 34:149–168
Goeppert HR, Berendt GC (1845) Der Bernstein und die in ihm befindlichen Pflanzenreste der Vorwelt. Nicolaische Buchhandlung, Berlin, 125 pp
Graham A (1962) The role of fungal spores in palynology. J Paleontol 36:60–68
Hallbauer DK, van Warmelo KT (1974) Fossilized plants in thucholite from Precambrian rocks of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. Precambrian Res 1:199–212
Hass H, Taylor TN, Remy W (1994) Fungi from the Lower Devonian Rhynie chert: mycoparasitism. Am J Bot 81:29–37
Heckman DS, Geiser DM, Eidell BR, Stauffer RL, Kardos NL, Hedges SB (2001) Molecular evidence for the early colonization of land by fungi and plants. Science 293:1129–1133
Hermann TN, Podkovyrov VN (2006) Fungal remains from the late Riphean. Paleontol J 40:207–214
Hibbett DS, Grimaldi DA, Donoghue MJ (1995) Cretaceous mushrooms in amber. Nature 377:487
Hibbett DS, Grimaldi DA, Donoghue MJ (1997a) Fossil mushrooms from Miocene and Cretaceous ambers and the evolution of homobasidiomycetes. Am J Bot 84:981–991
Hibbett DS, Donoghue MJ, Tomlinson PB (1997b) Is Phellinites digiustoi the oldest homobasidiomycete? Am J Bot 84:1005–1011
Hibbett DS, Binder M, Wang Z, Goldman Y (2003) Another fossil agaric from Dominican amber. Mycologia 95:685–687
Hobbie EA, Boyce CK (2010) Carbon sources for the Palaeozoic giant fungus Prototaxites inferred from modern analogues. Proc R Soc B Biol Sci 277:2149–2156
Hower JC, O'Keefe JMK, Watt MA, Pratt TJ, Eble CF, Stucker JD, Richardson AR, Kostova IJ (2009) Notes on the origin of inertinite macerals in coals: observations on the importance of fungi in the origin of macrinite. Int J Coal Geol 80:135–143
Hueber FM (2001) Rotted wood-alga-fungus: the history and life of Prototaxites Dawson 1859. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 116:123–159
Hughes DP, Wappler T, Labandeira CC (2011) Ancient death-grip leaf scars reveal ant-fungal parasitism. Biol Lett 7:67–70
Hutchinson SA (1955) A review of the genus Sporocarpon Williamson. Ann Bot 19:425–435
Illman WI (1984) Zoosporic fungal bodies in the spores of the Devonian fossil vascular plant Horneophyton. Mycologia 76:545–547
Jahren AH, Porter S, Kuglitsch JJ (2003) Lichen metabolism identified in Early Devonian terrestrial organisms. Geology 31:99–102
James TY, Kauff F, Schoch CL, Matheny PB, Hofstetter V, Cox CJ, Celio G, Gueidan C, Fraker E, Miadlikowska J, Lumbsch HT, Rauhut A, Reeb V, Arnold AE, Amtoft A, Stajich JE, Hosaka K, Sung G-H, Johnson D, O'Rourke B, Crockett M, Binder M, Curtis JM, Slot JC, Wang Z, Wilson AW, Schüßler A, Longcore JE, O'Donnell K, Mozley-Standridge S, Porter D, Letcher PM, Powell MJ, Taylor JW, White MM, Griffith GW, Davies DR, Humber RA, Morton JB, Sugiyama J, Rossman AY, Rogers JD, Pfister DH, Hewitt D, Hansen K, Hambleton S, Shoemaker RA, Kohlmeyer J, Volkmann-Kohlmeyer B, Spotts RA, Serdani M, Crous PW, Hughes KW, Matsuura K, Langer E, Langer G, Untereiner WA, Lücking R, Büdel B, Geiser DM, Aptroot A, Diederich P, Schmitt I, Schultz M, Yahr R, Hibbett DS, Lutzoni F, McLaughlin DJ, Spatafora JW, Vilgalys R (2006) Reconstructing the early evolution of fungi using a six-gene phylogeny. Nature 443:818–822
Joy WK, Willis AJ, Lacey WS (1956) A rapid cellulose peel technique in paleobotany. Ann Bot 20:635–637
Kalgutkar RM, Jansonius J (2000) Synopsis of fossil fungal spores, mycelia, and fructifications. Palynol Soc Contrib Ser 39:1–429
Kar RK, Sharma N, Kar R (2004) Occurrence of fossil fungi in dinosaur dung and its implication on food habit. Curr Sci 87:1053–1056
Karatygin V, Snigirevskaya NS, Vikulin SV (2009) The most ancient terrestrial lichen Winfrenatia reticulata: a new find and new interpretation. Paleontol J 43:107–114
Karling JS (1928) Studies in the Chytridiales III. A parasitic chytrid causing cell hypertrophy in Chara. Am J Bot 15:485–496
Karling JS (1973) A note on Blastocladiella (Blastocladiaceae). Mycopath Mycol Appl 49:169–172
Kidston R, Lang WH (1917) On Old Red Sandstone plants showing structure, from the Rhynie Chert Bed, Aberdeenshire. Part I. Rhynia gwynne-vaughani, Kidston and Lang. Trans R Soc Edinb 51(Part 3(24)):763–784
Kidston R, Lang WH (1920a) On Old Red Sandstone plants showing structure, from the Rhynie Chert Bed, Aberdeenshire. Part II. Additional notes on Rhynia gwynne-vaughani, Kidston and Lang; with descriptions of Rhynia major, n.sp., and Hornea lignieri, n.g. n.sp. Trans R Soc Edinb 52(Part 3(24)):603–627
Kidston R, Lang WH (1920b) On Old Red Sandstone plants showing structure, from the Rhynie Chert bed, Aberdeenshire. Part III. Asteroxylon mackiei, Kidston and Lang. Trans R Soc Edinb 52(Part 3(26)):643–680
Kidston R, Lang WH (1921a) On Old Red Sandstone plants showing structure, from the Rhynie Chert Bed, Aberdeenshire. Part IV. Restorations of the vascular cryptogams, and discussion of their bearing on the general morphology of the Pteridophyta and the origin of the organisation of land-plants. Trans R Soc Edinb 52:831–854
Kidston R, Lang WH (1921b) On Old Red Sandstone plants showing structure, from the Rhynie Chert Bed, Aberdeenshire. Part V. The Thallophyta occurring in the peat-bed; the succession of the plants throughout a vertical section of the bed, and the conditions of accumulation and preservation of the deposit. Trans R Soc Edinb 52:855–902
Krassilov VA (1981) Orestovia and the origin of land plants. Lethaia 14:235–250
Krings M, Taylor TN, Hass H, Kerp H, Dotzler N, Hermsen EJ (2007a) Fungal endophytes in a 400-million-yr-old land plant: infection pathways, spatial distribution, and host response. New Phytol 174:648–657
Krings M, Taylor TN, Hass H, Kerp H, Dotzler N, Hermsen EJ (2007b) An alternative mode of early land plant colonization by putative endomycorrhizal fungi. Plant Signal Behav 2:125–126
Krings M, Dotzler N, Taylor TN (2009a) Globicultrix nugax nov. gen. et spec. (Chytridiomycota), an intrusive microfungus in fungal spores from the Rhynie chert. Zitteliana A 48(49):165–170
Krings M, Dotzler N, Galtier J, Taylor TN (2009b) Microfungi from the upper Visean (Mississippian) of central France: Chytridiomycota and chytrid-like remains of uncertain affinity. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 156:319–328
Krings M, Galtier J, Taylor TN, Dotzler N (2009c) Chytrid-like microfungi in Biscalitheca cf. musata (Zygopteridales) from the Upper Pennsylvanian Grand-Croix cherts (Saint-Etienne Basin, France). Rev Palaeobot Palynol 157:309–316
Krings M, Dotzler N, Taylor TN, Galtier J (2009d) A Late Pennsylvanian fungal leaf endophyte from Grand-Croix, France. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 156:449–453
Krings M, Dotzler N, Longcore JE, Taylor TN (2010a) An unusual microfungus in a fungal spore from the Lower Devonian Rhynie chert. Palaeontol 53:753–759
Krings M, Dotzler N, Taylor TN, Galtier J (2010b) Microfungi from the upper Visean (Mississippian) of central France: structure and development of the sporocarp Mycocarpon cinctum nov. sp. Zitteliana A 50:127–135
Krings M, Dotzler N, Galtier J, Taylor TN (2010c) Oldest fossil basidiomycete clamp connections. Mycoscience 52:18–23
Krings M, Taylor TN, White JF (2011a) Fungal sporocarps from the Carboniferous: an unusual specimen of Traquairia. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 168:1–6
Krings M, Dotzler N, Taylor TN (2011b) Mycoparasitism in Dubiocarpon, a fungal sporocarp from the Carboniferous. Neues Jahrb Geol Paläontol 262:241–245
Krings M, Taylor TN, Dotzler N, Galtier J (2011c) Fungal remains in cordaite (Cordaitales) leaves from the Upper Pennsylvanian of central France. Bull Geosci 86:777–784
Krings M, Taylor TN, Taylor EL, Dotzler N, Walker C (2011d) Arbuscular mycorrhizal-like fungi in Carboniferous arborescent lycopsids. New Phytol 191:311–314
Krings M, Taylor TN, Dotzler N, Persichini G (2012) Fossil fungi with suggested affinities to the Endogonaceae from the Middle Triassic of Antarctica. Mycologia 104:835–844
Langenheim JH (2003) Plant resins – chemistry, evolution, ecology, ethnobotany. Timber Press, Portland, OR
Lesquereux L (1877) A species of fungus recently discovered in the shales of the Darlington Coal Bed (Lower Productive Coal Measures, Alleghany River Series) at Cannelton, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Proc Am Philos Soc 17(100):173–175
Lutzoni F, Pagel M, Reeb V (2001) Major fungal lineages are derived from lichen symbiotic ancestors. Nature 411:937–940
Mandyam K, Jumpponen A (2005) Seeking the elusive function of the root-colonizing dark septate endophytic fungi. Stud Mycol 53:173–189
McLaughlin DJ (1976) On Palaeosclerotium as a link between ascomycetes and basidiomycetes. Science 193:602
Meschinelli A (1898) Fungorum fossilium omnium, hucusque cognitorum, iconographia: Volumen unicum. Typis Aloysii Fabris and C, Venice
Millay MA, Taylor TN (1978) Chytrid-like fossils of Pennsylvanian age. Science 200:1147–1149
Mims CW, Richardson EA, Clay RP, Nicholson RL (1995) Ultrastructure of conidia and the conidium aging process in the plant pathogenic fungus Colletotrichum gramnicola. Int J Plant Sci 156:9–18
Mindell RA, Stockey RA, Beard G, Currah RS (2007) Margaretbarromyces dictyosporus gen. sp. nov.: a permineralized corticolous ascomycete from the Eocene of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Mycol Res 111:680–684
Nagovitsin K (2009) Tappania-bearing association of the Siberian platform: biodiversity, stratigrahic position and geochronological constraints. Precambrian Res 173:137–145
Oliver FW (1903) Notes on fossil fungi. New Phytol 3:49–53
Peterson EB (2000) A overlooked fossil lichen (Lobariaceae). Lichenologist 32:298–300
Phillips TL, Avcin MJ, Berggren DE (1976) Fossil peat from the Illinois Basin. A guide to the study of coal-balls of Pennsylvanian age. Ill St Geol Educ Ser 11:1–39
Phipps CJ (2006) Entopeltacites remberi sp. nov. from the Miocene of Clarkia, Idaho, USA. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 145:193–200
Phipps CJ, Taylor TN (1996) Mixed arbuscular mycorrhizae from the Triassic of Antarctica. Mycologia 88:707–714
Phipps CJ, Rember WC (2004) Epiphyllous fungi from the Miocene of Clarkia, Idaho: reproductive structures. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 129:67–79
Pirozynski KA (1976) Fossil fungi. Annu Rev Phytopathol 14:237–246
Pirozynski KA, Dalpé Y (1989) Geological history of the Glomaceae with particular reference to mycorrhizal symbiosis. Symbiosis 7:1–36
Pirozynski KA, Malloch D (1975) The origin of land plants: a matter of mycotrophism. BioSyst 6:153–164
Pirozynski KA, Weresub KL (1979) A biogeographic view of the history of ascomycetes and the development of their pleomorphism. In: Kendricks B (ed) The whole fungus, vol 1, Kananaskis Foundation. National Museum of the Natural Sciences, National Museums of Canada, and Kananaskis Foundation, Ottawa, ON, pp 93–123
Pons D, Boureau E (1977) Les champignons epiphylls d’un Frenelopsis du Cenomanian moyen de l’Anjou (France). Rev Mycol 41:349–358
Porter TM, Martin W, James TY, Longcore JE, Gleason FH, Adler PH, Letcher PM, Vilgalys R (2011) Molecular phylogeny of the Blastocladiomycota (Fungi) based on nuclear ribosomal DNA. Fungal Biol 115:381–392
Redecker D, Kodner R, Graham LE (2000) Glomalean fungi from the Ordovician. Science 289:1920–1921
Redecker D, Kodner R, Graham LE (2002) Palaeoglomus grayi from the Ordovician. Mycotaxon 84:33–37
Remy W, Taylor TN, Hass H (1994a) Early Devonian fungi: a blastocladalean fungus with sexual reproduction. Am J Bot 81:690–702
Remy W, Taylor TN, Hass H, Kerp H (1994b) Four hundred-million-year-old vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 91:11841–11843
Renault B (1894) Sur quelques nouveaux parasites des Lépidodendrons. Soc Hist Nat d’Autun Procès Verbal Séances 1893:168–178
Renault B (1895a) Chytridinées fossiles du Dinantien (Culm). Rev Mycol 17:158–161
Renault B (1895b) Parasites des écorces de Lépidodendrons. Naturaliste 9:77–78
Renault B (1896a) Recherches sur les Bactériacées fossils. Ann Sci Nat Bot Sér 8(2):275–349
Renault B (1896b) Bassin Houiller et Permien d’Autun et d’Épinac. Fascicule IV: Flore fossile, deuxième partie (Études des Gîtes Minéraux de la France). Imprimerie Nationale, Paris
Renault B (1899/1900) Sur quelques microorganismes des combustibles fossils. Société de l’Imprimerie Théolier. J Thomas et Cie, Saint-Étienne (text 1900, atlas 1899)
Renault B (1903) Sur quelques nouveaux champignons et algues fossiles, de l’époque houillère. C R Acad Sci Paris 136:904–907
Renault B, Bertrand CE (1885) Grilletia spherospermii, Chytridiacée fossile du terrain houiller supérieur. C R Acad Sci Paris 100:1306–1308
Retallack GJ (1994) Were the Ediacaran fossils lichens? Paleobiology 20:523–544
Retallack GJ (2009) Cambrian–Ordovician non-marine fossils from South Australia. Alcheringa 33:355–391
Rikkinen J, Poinar GO (2008) A new species of Phyllopsora (Lecanorales, lichen-forming Ascomycota) from the Dominican amber, with remarks on the fossil history of lichens. J Exp Bot 59:1007–1011
Rikkinen J, Dörfelt H, Schmidt AR, Wunderlich J (2003) Sooty moulds from European Tertiary amber, with notes on the systematic position of Rosaria (Cyanobacteria). Mycol Res 107:251–256
Rothwell GW (1972) Palaeosclerotium pusillum gen. et sp. nov., a fossil eumycete from the Pennsylvanian of Illinois. Can J Bot 50:2353–2356
Schmid R (1976) Septal pores in Prototaxites, an enigmatic Devonian plant. Science 191:287–288
Schmidt AR, Dörfelt H, Perrichot V (2007) Carnivorous fungi from Cretaceous amber. Science 318:1743
Schüßler A, Walker C (2011) Evolution of the ‘plant-symbiotic’ fungal phylum, Glomeromycota. In: Pöggeler S, Wöstemeyer J (eds) The Mycota XIV. Evolution of fungi and fungal-like organisms. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 163–185
Schwendemann AB, Decombeix A-L, Taylor TN, Taylor EL, Krings M (2011) Morphological and functional stasis in mycorrhizal root nodules as exhibited by a Triassic conifer. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 108:13630–13634
Selosse MA (2002) Prototaxites: a 400 myr old giant fossil, a saprophytic holobasidiomycete, or a lichen? Mycol Res 106:642–644
Sharma N, Kar RK, Agarwal A, Kar R (2005) Fungi in dinosaurian (Isisaurus) coprolites from the Lameta Formation (Maastrichtian) and its reflection on food habit and environment. Micropaleontology 51:73–82
Sheffy MV, Dilcher DL (1971) Morphology and taxonomy of fungal spores. Palaeontographica 133B:34–51
Sherwood-Pike MA, Gray J (1985) Silurian fungal remains: probable records of the class Ascomycetes. Lethaia 18:1–20
Shi G, Zhou Z, Xie Z (2010) A new Cephalotaxus and associated epiphyllous fungi from the Oligocene of Guangxi, South China. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 161:179–195
Singer R (1977) An interpretation of Palaeosclerotium. Mycologia 69:850–854
Singh SK, Chauhan MS (2008) Fungal remains from the Neogene sediments of Mahuadanr Valley, Latehar district, Jharkhand, India and their palaeoclimatic significance. J Palaeontol Soc India 53:73–81
Smith J (1898) On the discovery of fossil microscopic plants in the fossil amber of the Ayrshire coal-field. Trans Geol Soc Glasgow 10:318–322
Smith PH (1980) Trichothyriaceous fungi from the Early Tertiary of southern England. Palaeontol 23:205–212
Smith SY, Currah RS, Stockey RA (2004) Cretaceous and Eocene poroid hymenophores from Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Mycologia 96:180–186
Smith WG (1884) Diseases of field and garden crops chiefly such as are caused by fungi. MacMillan, London
Speranza M, Wierzchos J, Alonso J, Bettuchi L, Martín-González A, Ascaso C (2010) Traditional and new microscopy techniques applied to the study of microscopic fungi included in amber. In: Méndez-Vilas A, Díaz J (eds) Microscopy: science, technology, application and education, vol 2, Formatex. Badajoz, Spain, pp 1135–1145
Stanevich AM, Maksimova EN, Kornilova TA, Mazukabzov AM, Gladkochub DP (2007) Microfossils of the late Proterozoic Debengdinskaya Formation of the Olenekskiy uplift. Bull Tomsk Polytech Univ 311:9–14
Stein WE, Harmon GD, Hueber FM (1993) Spongiophyton from the Lower Devonian of North America reinterpreted as a lichen. Am J Bot 80(6 Suppl Abstr):93
Strullu-Derrien C, Strullu D-G (2007) Mycorrhization of fossil and living plants. C R Palevol 6:483–494
Strullu-Derrien C, Rioult JP, Strullu DG (2009) Mycorrhizas in Upper Carboniferous Radiculites-type cordaitalean rootlets. New Phytol 182:561–564
Stubblefield SP, Banks HP (1983) Fungal remains in the Devonian trimerophyte Psilophyton dawsonii. Am J Bot 70:1258–1261
Stubblefield SP, Taylor TN (1983) Studies of Paleozoic fungi. I. The structure and organization of Traquairia (Ascomycota). Am J Bot 70:387–399
Stubblefield SP, Taylor TN (1986) Wood decay in silicified gymnosperms from Antarctica. Bot Gaz 147:116–125
Stubblefield SP, Taylor TN (1988) Recent advances in paleomycology. New Phytol 108:3–25
Stubblefield SP, Taylor TN, Miller CE, Cole GT (1983) Studies in Carboniferous fungi. II. The structure and organization of Mycocarpon, Sporocarpon, Dubiocarpon, and Coleocarpon (Ascomycotina). Am J Bot 70:1482–1498
Stubblefield SP, Taylor TN, Beck CB (1985) Studies of Paleozoic fungi. V. Wood-decaying fungi in Callixylon newberryi from the Upper Devonian. Am J Bot 72:1765–1774
Sung GH, Poinar GO Jr, Spatafora JW (2008) The oldest fossil evidence of animal parasitism by fungi supports a Cretaceous diversification of fungal-arthropod symbioses. Mol Phylogenet Evol 49:495–502
Taylor TN (1993) Fungi. In: Benton MJ (ed) The fossil record 2. Chapman & Hall, London, pp 9–13
Taylor TN, White JF Jr (1989) Fossil fungi (Endogonaceae) from the Triassic of Antarctica. Am J Bot 76:389–396
Taylor TN, Hass H, Remy W (1992a) Devonian fungi: interactions with the green alga Palaeonitella. Mycologia 84:901–910
Taylor TN, Remy W, Hass H (1992b) Fungi from the Lower Devonian Rhynie chert: Chytridiomycetes. Am J Bot 79:1233–1241
Taylor TN, Galtier J, Axsmith BJ (1994) Fungi from the Lower Carboniferous of central France. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 83:253–260
Taylor TN, Remy W, Hass H, Kerp H (1995) Fossil arbuscular mycorrhizae from the Early Devonian. Mycologia 87:560–573
Taylor TN, Hass H, Kerp H (1997) A cyanolichen from the lower Devonian Rhynie chert. Am J Bot 84:992–1004
Taylor TN, Klavins SD, Krings M, Taylor EL, Kerp H, Hass H (2004a) Fungi from the Rhynie chert: a view from the dark side. Trans R Soc Edinb Earth Sci 94:457–473
Taylor TN, Krings M, Klavins SD, Taylor EL (2005a) Protoascon missouriensis, a complex fossil microfungus revisited. Mycologia 97:725–729
Taylor TN, Kerp H, Hass H (2005b) Life history biology of early land plants: deciphering the gametophyte phase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102:5892–5897
Taylor TN, Hass H, Kerp H, Krings M, Hanlin RT (2005c) Perithecial ascomycetes from the 400 million year old Rhynie chert: an example of ancestral polymorphism. Mycologia 97:269–285
Taylor TN, Taylor EL, Krings M (2009) Paleobotany: the biology and evolution of fossil plants, 2nd edn. Academic, Burlington, MA
Taylor TN, Taylor EL, Decombeix AL, Schwendemann A, Serbet R, Escapa I, Krings M (2010) The enigmatic Devonian fossil Prototaxites is not a rolled-up liverwort mat: comment on the paper by Graham et al. (AJB 97: 268–275). Am J Bot 97:1074–1078
Taylor TN, Krings M, Dotzler N, Galtier J (2011) The advantage of thin section preparations over acetate peels in the study of late Paleozoic fungi and other microorganisms. Palaios 26:239–244
Taylor TN, Krings M, Galtier J, Dotzler N (2012) Fungal endophytes in Astromyelon-type (Sphenophyta, Equisetales, Calamitaceae) roots from the Upper Pennsylvanian of France. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 171:9–18
Taylor TN, Krings M, Taylor EL (2015) Fossil fungi. Academic, Burlington, MA
Taylor WA, Free C, Boyce CK, Helgemo R, Ochoads J (2004b) SEM analysis of Spongiophyton interpreted as a fossil lichen. Int J Plant Sci 165:875–881
Tiffney BH, Barghoorn ES (1974) The fossil record of the fungi. Occas Papers Farlow Herb 7:1–42
Tripathi SKM (2009) Fungi from palaeoenvironments: their role in environmental interpretations. In: Misra JK, Deshmukh SK (eds) Fungi from different environments. Science Publishers, Lucknow, India, pp 1–27
Unger F (1850) Genera et species plantarum fossilium. Wilhelm Baumüller, Vienna
Vajda V, McLoughlin S (2004) Fungal proliferation at the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary. Science 303:1489
Van der Ham RWJM, Dortangs RW (2005) Structurally preserved ascomycetous fungi from the Maastrichtian type area (NE Belgium). Rev Palaeobot Palynol 136:48–62
Visscher H, Sephton MA, Looy CV (2011) Fungal virulence at the time of the end-Permian biosphere crisis. Geology 39:883–886
Waggoner BM (1995) Ediacaran lichens: a critique. Paleobiology 21:393–397
Wagner CA, Taylor TN (1981) Evidence for endomycorrhizae in Pennsylvanian age plant fossils. Science 212:562–563
Wagner CA, Taylor TN (1982) Fungal chlamydospores from the Pennsylvanian of North America. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 37:317–328
Wang B, Qiu Y-L (2006) Phylogenetic distribution and evolution of mycorrhizas in land plants. Mycorrhiza 16:299–363
Wang X, Krings M, Taylor TN (2010) A thalloid organism with possible lichen affinity from the Jurassic of northeastern China. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 162:591–598
Weiss FE (1904) A mycorrhiza from the Lower Coal Measures. Ann Bot 18:255–265
Wells AK, Hill RS (1993) Epiphyllous microorganisms as palaeoclimate estimators: the developmental sequence of fungal ‘germlings’ on their living host. Aust Syst Bot 6:377–386
White JF, Taylor TN (1989) Triassic fungi with suggested affinities to the Endogonales (Zygomycotina). Rev Palaeobot Palynol 61:53–61
White JF, Taylor TN (1991) Fungal sporocarps from Triassic peat deposits in Antarctica. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 67:229–236
Williamson WC (1878) On the organization of the fossil plants of the Coal-Measures. Part IX. Philos Trans R Soc Lond 169:319–364
Yuan X, Xiao S, Taylor TN (2005) Lichen-like symbiosis 600 million years ago. Science 308:1017–1020
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Taylor, T.N., Krings, M., Taylor, E.L. (2015). 10 Fungal Diversity in the Fossil Record. In: McLaughlin, D., Spatafora, J. (eds) Systematics and Evolution. The Mycota, vol 7B. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-46011-5_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-46011-5_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-46010-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-46011-5
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)