Fungalpedia – Note 190Diploneurospora (Fossil fungi)

 

Diploneurospora Jain & Gupta 

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

Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBankGenBank, 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 tewariiScale 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. SaxenaBirbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, India

 

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