Bird's nest fungi (Nidulariales: Nidulariaceae) in Baltic and Dominican amber

First record of fossil basidiomycete clamp connections in cordaitalean stems from the Asselian–Sakmarian (lower Permian) of Shanxi Province, North China

“…Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that basidiomycetes would play an important role in ancient terrestrial ecosystems, at least from the Early Devonian onward (Taylor and Krings, 2005;Krings et al, 2011a). However, their fossil record is largely from materials in the Mesozoic (Osborn et al, 1989;Hibbett et al, 1997;Krassilov and Makulbekov, 2003;Poinar and Brown, 2003;Smith et al, 2004;Poinar and Buckley, 2007) and Cenozoic (Poinar and Singer, 1990;Magallón-Puebla and Cevallos-Ferriz, 1993;LePage et al, 1997;Poinar, 2011Poinar, , 2014Hibbett et al, 2003;Fleischmann et al, 2007). The fossil record of basidiomycetes in the late Palaeozoic is relatively scarce (Taylor and Krings, 2005;Taylor et al, 2009Taylor et al, , 2014Krings et al, 2011a).…”

Fossil Fleshy Fungi (“Mushrooms”) in Amber

“…The preservative qualities of Dominican and Baltic amber also captured the first fossil bird's nest fungi. Not only are the fruiting bodies preserved but also peridioles at the base of the peridia [12] ( Figures 6 and 7). Some of the Cretaceous fossils are unique in possessing unknown features without any direct descendants.…”

“…Coprinites dominicana ( Figure 2) Dominican Poinar and Singer [16] Protomycena electra Dominican Hibbett et al [6] Aureofungus yaniguaensis Dominican Hibbett et al [20] Palaeocybe striata Bitterfeld Dörfelt and Striebich [21] Gerontomyces lepidotus (Figure 3) Baltic Poinar [17] Archaeomarasmius leggetti New Jersey Hibbett et al [7] Palaeoagaracites antiquus ( Table 1: Fleshy fungi ("mushrooms") reported from amber deposits. yellow to orange fruiting bodies and subglobose spores distinguish it from extant members of the Sclerodermatineae [12]. The "Dead-Man's Fingers" fungus, Xylaria antiqua, (Figure 9) is equally well preserved with organized layers of conidiophores still retaining their condia as well as perithecia filled with ellipsoid ascospores adjacent to the ostioles [13].…”

“…'s nest fungiCyathus dominicanus (Figure 6) Dominican Poinar et al[22] Nidula baltica (Figure 7) Baltic Poinar[12] D. Gasteroid fungiPalaeogaster micromorpha(Figure 8) Burma (Myanmar)Poinar et al[22] E. Xylaroid fungus Xylaria antiqua(Figure 9) Dominican Poinar[13] Paleomorchella dominicana sp. nov.(Figure 12) Dominican Boucot and Poinar[10] …”

11-O-acetylcyathatriol inhibits MAPK/p38-mediated inflammation in LPS-activated RAW 264.7 macrophages and has a protective effect on ethanol-induced gastric injury

“…Cyathus is a genus of fungi in the Nidulariaceae family, which is collectively known as bird's nest fungi (1). The Cyathus genus produces high levels of cyathane-type diterpenoids with a unique tricyclic skeleton (2)(3)(4).…”