Fungalpedia – Note 229, Milesites (Fossil Fungi)

 

Milesites Ramanujam & Ramachar.

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

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

Classification: Milesinaceae, Pucciniales, Pucciniomycetes, Fossil Basidiomycota

The monotypic fossil genus, Milesites, was described by Ramanujam & Ramachar (1980) from the Neyveli lignite (Miocene, 23–5 mya) of Cuddalore Distroict, Tamil Nadu, India. It includes obscurely pedicellate, obovoid, lanceolate, or irregularly configured urediniospores having thin (up to 1.5 μm thick), hyaline or very light-coloured, smooth or finely sculptured walls and a few faint/indistinct germ pores. According to Ramanujam & Ramachar (1980), the fossil spores of Milesites show similarity with the urediniospores of extant Milesia F.B. White, parasitizing members of the fern family Polypodiaceae. Interestingly, polypodiaceous spores are common in Neyveli lignite.

Type species: Milesites irregularis Ramanujam & Ramachar.

 

 

Figure 1 – Milesites irregularis. Scale bar = 10 μm. Redrawn from Ramanujam & Ramachar (1980).

 

References

Ramanujam CGK, Ramachar P. 1980 – Recognizable spores of rust fungi (Uridinales) from Neyveli lignite, Tamil Nadu. Records of the Geological Survey of India 113, 80–85.

 

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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