Fungalpedia – Note 427, Helmutella 

 

Helmutella M. Krings & T.N. Taylor 

Citation when using this data: Tibpromma et al. (in prep.) – Fungalpedia, Fossil fungi. 

Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig. 1 

Classification: Fossil Glomeromycota

Based on fossil records, Krings and Taylor (2014) identified a new genus of Glomeromycota. The fossil comprises a thin-walled spheroid surrounded by a massive, two-layered hyphal mantle, and the spheroid is borne on tubular hypha with a distal portion covered by the mantle (Krings & Taylor 2014). Helmutella devonica has been found in plant litter from the Lower Devonian Rhynie chert, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and several different mantle patterns have been found in fungi since the Early Devonian (Krings & Taylor 2014).

Type species: Helmutella devonica M. Krings & T.N. Taylor 

Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Helmutella 

 

Figure 1 – Helmutella devonica (SNSB-BSPG 2013 XV 123, holotype). a, b Radially elongate elements and peripheral hyphae of the inner mantle layer. c Inner mantle layer. d Segment of the reproductive unit in cross-section. Scale bars: a-c = 10 μm. Redrawn from Krings and Taylor (2014).

 

Reference

Krings M, Taylor TN. 2014 – A mantled fungal reproductive unit from the Lower Devonian Rhynie chert that demonstrates Carboniferous “sporocarp” morphology and development. Neues Jahrbuch Für Geologie Und Palaontologie. Abhandlungen 273(2), 197–205. 

 

Entry by

Priyashantha AKH, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand 

 

(Edited by Saowaluck Tibpromma, Samaneh Chaharmiri-Dokhaharani, & Achala R. Rathnayaka)

 

Published online 2 December 2024

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