Aureofungus
| Aureofungus Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Agaricales |
| Family: | incertae sedis |
| Genus: | †Aureofungus Hibbett et al. |
| Species: | †A. yaniguaensis
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Aureofungus yaniguaensis Hibbett et al.
| |
Aureofungus is an
The genus is solely known from the early Miocene, Burdigalian stage, Dominican amber deposits on the island of Hispaniola.[1][2] Aureofungus is one of only four known agarics fungus species known in the fossil record and the third to be described from Dominican amber.[1]
History and classification
The genus is known only from the
When described Aureofungus yaniguaensis was the fourth species of fossil agaric fungus to be described. Two species
Description
The holotype of Aureofungus is a
These combined characters indicate a possible relation to the modern Tricholomataceae or some of the "dusky-spored taxa" such as Coprinellus disseminatus. However the thickness of the amber entombing the specimen prevented study finer details, such as spore ornamentation and pileus texture, which would have clarified the relations.[1] As such Hibbett et al left the placement of Aureofungus as Agaricales incertae sedis. Despite the lack of visible details, enough characters are present to distinguish Aureofungus from the three other known amber fossil species.[1]
