Appianoporites facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Appianoporites |
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Appianoporites is the name of an extinct type of fungus. It belongs to a group called Agaricomycetes and the family Hymenochaetaceae. So far, scientists have only found one species of this fungus, called Appianoporites vancouverensis.
This fungus is known only from fossils found on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. These fossils come from a time period called the Eocene epoch. Appianoporites was the first fossil fungus found in this area. It is one of only three fossil fungi ever discovered on Vancouver Island. Another one, Quatsinoporites cranhamii, was found from a Cretaceous fossil. A third fungus, Margaretbarromyces dictyosporus, was found a few years later.
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Discovering Appianoporites
Scientists only know about Appianoporites from one fossil. This fossil is a piece of a bracket fungus's fruiting body, also called a conk. The fossil is kept at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria.
The fossil was found south of the Campbell River on the east side of Vancouver Island. It was preserved inside a calcareous nodule. This nodule is a hard lump of rock. It formed in a shallow ocean area where many plants were also preserved.
Who Studied It?
A team of researchers first studied this fossil. They were Selena Smith, Randolph Currah, and Ruth Stockey. All of them were from the University of Alberta.
They published their findings in 2004 in a science journal called Mycologia. They gave the fungus its name, Appianoporites. The "Appian" part comes from the Appian Way, where the fossil was found. The "porites" part shows it's a polypore fungus, which has many small holes or pores. The species name, "vancouverensis", honors Vancouver Island.
Other Fossil Fungi in British Columbia
When Appianoporites vancouverensis was described, it was only the second fossil fungus found on Vancouver Island. It was the fourth found in all of British Columbia.
The first two fossil fungi from British Columbia were Cryptodidymosphaerites princetonensis and Palaeoserenomyces allenbyensis. They were found near Princeton, B.C.. Quatsinoporites cranhamii was found on the west side of Vancouver Island. Later, in 2007, another fungus called Margaretbarromyces dictyosporus was found at the same Appian Way site.
What the Fossil Looks Like
The fossil of Appianoporites is a small piece of the fungus. It is about 7.0 millimeters long, 2.5 millimeters wide, and 3.3 millimeters deep. It looks worn down, probably because water moved it around before it became a fossil.
This piece of fungus has tiny tubes, about six of them per millimeter. These tubes are between 130 and 163 micrometers wide. The fungus is made of simple threads called hyphae. Because the fossil is worn, scientists don't know what its spores or spore-producing cells looked like.
To study the fossil, scientists cut the rock nodule into thin slices. They then used a special technique to make slides. These slides were looked at under a microscope.
Scientists believe Appianoporites belongs to the family Hymenochaetaceae. This is because of how its pore-filled surface looks. It also has special bristles called setae and a simple hyphal system. However, this classification is not completely certain. This is because some key features, like the spores, are missing from the fossil.
