Fungalpedia – Note 190, Diploneurospora (Fossil fungi)

 

Diploneurospora Jain & Gupta 

Citation when using this data: Saxena RK & Hyde KD. 2024 (in prep) – Fungalpedia, Fossil Fungi. 

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

Classification: Sordariales, Sordariomycetidae, Sordariomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Fossil Ascomycota, Fungi

The monotypic fossil genus, Diploneurospora, was described by Jain & Gupta (1970) from the Early Miocene (23–16 mya) sediments of Padappakkara, Kollam District, Kerala, India. The genus includes two-celled, uniseriate, elliptical ascospores with uneven margins. The upper cell is prominent, and the spore wall is dark brown, thick, and sculptured with longitudinal ribs. The smaller lower cell is hyaline, appendage-like and with a faint rib sculpture. According to Jain & Gupta (1970), the single-celled ascospores of the extant genus Neurospora are similar to the two-celled fossil ascospore of Diploneurospora. Only one species is listed in Index Fungorum (2023) under this genus.

Type species: Diploneurospora tewarii Jain & Gupta.

 

Figure 1– Diploneurospora tewarii. Scale bar = 20 μm. Redrawn from Jain & Gupta (1970)

 

References

Jain KP, Gupta RC. 1970 – Some fungal remains from the Tertiaries of Kerala Coast. Palaeobotanist 18(2), 177–182.

 

Entry by

Ramesh K. Saxena, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, India

 

(Edited by Kevin D. Hyde, Samaneh Chaharmiri-Dokhaharani, & Achala R. Rathnayaka)

Published online 31 January 2024