Fungalpedia – Note 239, Mathurisporites (Fossil Fungi)

 

Mathurisporites Kalgutkar & Jansonius.

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

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

Classification: Fossil Ascomycota, Incertae sedis, Fungi 

The monotypic fossil genus Mathurisporites was instituted by Kalgutkar & Jansonius (2000) to accommodate Pluricellaesporites ellipticus, originally described by Mathur & Mathur (1969), from the Pliocene (5.3–2.6 mya) sediments of Naera and Baraia, Kutch District, Gujarat, India. Mathurisporites includes medium sized hilate spores, generally consisting of a darker central part with 2–4(–6) cells, and proximal and distal parts of a single to few hyaline cells. No distal pore is observed. Septa distinct, as thick as or thicker than the spore wall. This genus differs from Pluricellaesporites in the swollen dark central cells. The generic name honours Y.K. Mathur, formerly of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Dehradun, India. 

Synonyms: Pluricellaesporites ellipticus Y.K. Mathur & K. Mathur 1969.

Type Species: Mathurisporites ellipticus (Y.K. Mathur & K. Mathur) Kalgutkar & Janson. 2000.

 

 

Figure 1 – Mathurisporites ellipticus. Scale bar = 10 μm. Redrawn from Mathur & Mathur (1969).

 

References

Kalgutkar RM, Jansonius J. 2000 – Synopsis of fungal spores, mycelia and fructifications. AASP Contribution Series 39, 1–423. 

Mathur YK, Mathur K. 1969 – Studies in the fossil flora of Kutch (India) – 3. On the palaeopalynoflora in the Pliocene sediments of Naera–Baraia area, Kutch. Bulletin of the Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Society of India 42, 1–12.

 

Entry by

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

 

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

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