Stemonitis

Stemonitis
Temporal range: Cenomanian–Present
Stemonitis fusca or similar species in the White Mountain National Forest
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Phylum: Amoebozoa
Class: Myxogastria
Order: Stemonitidales
Family: Stemonitidaceae
Genus: Stemonitis
Gled. [1]
Type species
Stemonitis fusca
Roth in Roemer & Usteri (1787) [1]

Stemonitis is a distinctive genus of slime moulds found throughout the world (except Antarctica). They are characterised by the tall brown sporangia, supported on slender stalks, which grow in clusters on rotting wood.[2] The genus was first described by German botanist Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch in 1753. A 2014 estimate suggests that there are 18 species in the genus.[3] Identification within the genus is difficult, and can only be performed with confidence using a microscope or by DNA sequencing. A fossil specimen (in Burmese amber) is known from the mid-Cretaceous (99 ma).[4]

  1. ^ a b "Genus Record Details: Stemonitis Gled., Method. Fung.: 140 (1753)". Species Fungorum. CAB International. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  2. ^ Gary Emberger (2008). "Stemonitis sp". Messiah College. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Doğan 2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Rikkinen, Jouko; Grimaldi, David A.; Schmidt, Alexander R. (December 2019). "Morphological stasis in the first myxomycete from the Mesozoic, and the likely role of cryptobiosis". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 19730. Bibcode:2019NatSR...919730R. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-55622-9. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 6930221. PMID 31874965.