Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 2 hrs ago
Scientists discover giant new fungus in forests of southern China
Scientists found a giant new fungus in Yunnan, China during fieldwork in forests in the region.
The fungus, named Dianjunus rex, grows visible fruiting bodies up to 50 centimeters tall and 2.2 kilograms in weight.
Genetic and physical studies identified it as a new species, genus and family, and the largest known member of Ascomycota, a major group of fungi.
The researchers estimate that its fungal family began around 65 million years ago, shortly after the mass extinction that wiped out dinosaurs and many other forms of life.
They suggest that the resulting changes in forests and dead plant material may have created new opportunities for the fungus to thrive.
Its tall fruiting bodies may help spores travel on the wind through dense forests, though making them also takes substantial energy.
Scientists discovered a new giant fungus, Dianjunus rex, in forests in Yunnan, southern China.
Its vertical fruiting bodies can grow up to 50 centimeters high and weigh up to 2.2 kilograms.
It is the largest known species in the fungal phylum Ascomycota and belongs to a newly identified genus and family.
Researchers say the find highlights how much fungal biodiversity remains undiscovered in East Asian forests.
The fungus’s lineage appears to date back about 65 million years.
- Who
- Scientists, including researchers from the Kunming Institute of Botany in China, discovered the fungus.
- What
- They identified Dianjunus rex, a new species, genus and fungal family.
- When
- Not stated.
- Where
- Forests in Yunnan, southern China, including sites near Damaidi, Yipinglang and Nanbang.
- Why
- Not stated. Researchers say the discovery reveals undiscovered fungal biodiversity and offers insight into the evolution of large fungal forms.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Scientists spotted large whitish fruiting bodies on fallen wood in forests in Yunnan.
The team grew spores in a laboratory and studied the fungus’s morphology and genome.
Genetic tests and morphological study identified a new species, genus and family.
The study describing the fungus was published in Frontiers in Fungal Biology.
- Scientific name
- Dianjunus rex
- Height
- Up to 50 centimeters
- Weight
- Up to 2.2 kilograms
- Fungal group
- Ascomycota
- Lineage age
- About 65 million years
- Region
- Yunnan, southern China
2 sources
What people are saying
This remarkable species represents a new fungal family, Dianjunaceae, and provides a rare window into the evolution of extreme fungal body forms
The discovery illustrates how much fungus biodiversity remains to be discovered in East Asian forests
This timing raises an intriguing possibility. After the mass extinction, forests experienced dramatic changes, including the sudden availability of large amounts of dead plant material