Home / Introductions to both Fossil and Recent Plant Taxa / Fungi

! K.R. Amses et al. (2022): Diploid-dominant life cycles characterize the earlyevolution of Fungi. Free access, PNAS, 119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2116841119.

Reinhard Agerer, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, and Gerhard Rambold, Universität Bayreuth, Germany: DEEMY. An expert information system with descriptions and images for the characterization and determination of ectomycorrhizae - structures formed by fungi and the roots of forest trees. Go to: Character listing, morphology, mycorrhizal system, morphology mycorrhizal system ramification presence-type.

Anonymus (?, see also here): Leavingbio.net. This website will guide you through the main topics of Biology. Go to: Fungi.

! V. Arantes and B. Goodell (2014): Current understanding of brown-rot fungal biodegradation mechanisms: a review. Free access, In: Schultz et al.; Deterioration and Protection of Sustainable Biomaterials. ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2014.
Note figure 1: Simplified mechanism for in situ generation of Fe²⁺ and H₂O₂, and degradation of major plant cell wall macrocomponents by brown rot fungi via •OH-producing Fenton reactions.
"... The biological decomposition of lignocellulosic materials, in particular woody biomass by wood-rotting Basidiomycetes, plays an essential role in carbon circle
[...] This chapter provides an overview of the more widely reported pathways that are more likely to constitute the two-step biodegradative mechanism in brown-rot fungi ..."

! M. Bahram and T. Netherway (2022): Fungi as mediators linking organisms and ecosystems. Free access, FEMS Microbiology Reviews, 46.
Note figure 1: Diverse entities of fungi.
Figure 3: Examples of mediating role of fungi in different ecosystems.
[...] "... There is also growing evidence that fungi mediate links between different organisms and ecosystems, with the potential to affect the macroecology and evolution of those organisms. This suggests that fungal interactions are an ecological driving force ..."

P. Baldrian (2017): Forest microbiome: diversity, complexity and dynamics. Free access, FEMS Microbiology Reviews, 41: 109–130.

! C. Beimforde et al. (2014): Estimating the Phanerozoic history of the Ascomycota lineages: combining fossil and molecular data. In PDF, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 78: 386-398. See also here.

Phil Berardelli, Science now: The Fungus That Ate the World.
Website outdated, download a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! M. Berbee et al. (2020). Genomic and fossil windows into the secret lives of the most ancient fungi. In PDF, Nature Reviews Microbiology, 18: 717-730. 10.1038/s41579-020-0426-8.
See also here.
"... Inferences can be drawn from evolutionary analysis by comparing the genes and genomes of fungi with the biochemistry and development of their plant and algal hosts. We then contrast this emerging picture against evidence from the fossil record to develop a new, integrated perspective on the origin and early evolution of fungi ..."

! M.L. Berbee and J.W. Taylor (2010): Dating the molecular clock in fungi – how close are we? In PDF, Fungal Biology Reviews, 24: 1-24.

The Museum of Paleontology (UCMP), University of California at Berkeley: Introduction to the Fungi, and Fungi: Fossil Record.

M.I. Bidartondo et al. (2011): The dawn of symbiosis between plants and fungi. In PDF, Biology Letters. See also here.

A. Biswas et al. (2020): Evidence of fungal decay in petrified legume wood from the Neogene of the Bengal Basin, India. Abstract, Fungal Biology, 124: 958-968.

! Meredith Blackwell, Rytas Vilgalys & John W. Taylor, Tree of Life Web Project (a collaborative effort of biologists from around the world): Fungi.

! J.E. Blair (2009): Fungi. PDF file, In: S.B. Hedges and S. Kumar (eds.): The Timetree of Life (see here).

P. Bonfante and A. Genre (2010): Mechanisms underlying beneficial plant - fungus interactions in mycorrhizal symbiosis. PDF file, Nature Communications.

S. Bonneville et al. (2020): Molecular identification of fungi microfossils in a Neoproterozoic shale rock. In PDF, Science Advances, 6: eaax7599.

! C. Kevin Boyce et al. (2007): Devonian landscape heterogeneity recorded by a giant fungus. PDF file, Geology, 35: 399-402.
This expired link is available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! J.J. Brocks et al. (2023): Lost world of complex life and the late rise of the eukaryotic crown. In PDF, Nature, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06170-w. See also here.
Note figure 1: Geological time chart comparing the molecular fossil, microfossil and phylogenetic records of early eukaryote evolution.

! Mark C. Brundrett (2002): Coevolution of roots and mycorrhizas of land plants. PDF file, New Phytologist, 154: 275-304.
This expired link is available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Mark Brundrett , CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products: The Mycorrhiza Site. Introduction to mycorrhizal associations, structure and development or roots and mycorrhizas. Chiefly information about Australian plants and fungi. See also:
The older webpage.
Books and cited references.
and Text books on mycorrhizas.
These expired links are available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! F.M. Cardillo & T.S. Samuels, Department of Biology, Manhattan College and the College of Mt. St. Vincent: WHITTAKER FIVE KINGDOM SYSTEM (1978) Plant Classification. Chapters include: KINGDOM III - Fungi

Michael Clayton, Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison: Instructional Technology (BotIT). Some image collections. Go to: Fungi Collection Tom Volk.

! Michael Clayton, Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison: Instructional Technology (BotIT). Some image collections. Excellent! Go to:
Fungi

DEEMY Characterization and DEtermination of EctoMYcorrhizae (by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Dept. Biologie I – Systematische Mykologie). DEEMY is a research database (including images) for identifying and characterizing ectomycorrhizae fungus-plant interactions.

! D.L. Dilcher (1965): Epiphyllous Fungi From Eocene Deposits in Western Tennessee, U.S.A. PDF file (38.5 MB!) Palaeontographica Bd. B. 116:1-54.

N. Dotzler et al. (2011): Sphenophyllum (Sphenophyllales) leaves colonized by fungi from the Upper Pennsylvanian Grand-Croix cherts of central France. Zitteliana 51. Go to PDF page 3.

! N.L. Dotzler (2009): Microbial life in the late Paleozoic: new discoveries from the Early Devonian and Carboniferous. In PDF, Thesis, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.

! D.C. Eastwood et al. (2011): The plant cell wall–decomposing machinery underlies the functional diversity of forest fungi. In PDF, Science 333. See also here. Supporting Online Material can be found here.

! D. Edwards et al. (2020): Further evidence for fungivory in the Lower Devonian (Lochkovian) of the Welsh Borderland, UK. Open access, PalZ, 94: 603–618.

J. Embacher et al. (2023): Wood decay fungi and their bacterial interaction partners in the built environment – A systematic review on fungal bacteria interactions in dead wood and timber. Open access, Fungal Biology Reviews, 45
Note figure 1: Brown and white rot residue and underlying mechanism of brown rot.
Figure 4: Overview of putative interactions between members of the degrading timber microbial community.
"... This minireview summarizes the current knowledge on bacterial-fungal interactions in dead wood with a special focus on dry-rot and proposes possible bacterial-fungal interaction (BFI) mechanisms based on examples from soil or decomposing wood from forests ..."

K. Fackler and M. Schwanninger (2012): How spectroscopy and microspectroscopy of degraded wood contribute to understand fungal wood decay. In PDF, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 96: 587-599.

! M.J. Farabee, Estrella Mountain Community College Center, Avondale, Arizona: On-Line Biology Book. Introductory biology lecture notes.
Now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

F.A.A. Feijen et al. (2018): Evolutionary dynamics of mycorrhizal symbiosis in land plant diversification. In PDF, Scientific reports.

! K.J. Field and S. Pressel (2018): Unity in diversity: structural and functional insights into the ancient partnerships between plants and fungi. In PDF, New Phytologist. See also here

K.J. Field et al. (2015): Symbiotic options for the conquest of land. In PDF, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 30: 477-486. See also here.

N.P. Maslova et al. (2021): Recent Studies of Co-Evolutionary Relationships of Fossil Plants and Fungi: Success, Problems, Prospects. In PDF, Paleontological Journal, 55: 1–17. See also here.

! J. García Massini et al. (2012): First report of fungi and fungus-like organisms from Mesozoic hot springs. In PDF, Palaios, 27: 55–62.

! A. Genre et al. (2020): Unique and common traits in mycorrhizal symbioses. In PDF, Nature Reviews Microbiology, 18, 649–660.
See also here.
Note figure 1: Major mycorrhizal types.
"... Mycorrhizas are among the most important biological interkingdom interactions, as they involve ~340,000 land plants and ~50,000 taxa of soil fungi
[...] During evolution, mycorrhizal fungi have refined their biotrophic capabilities to take advantage of their hosts as food sources and protective niches, while plants have developed multiple strategies to accommodate diverse fungal symbionts ..."

A. Gutiérrez et al. (2021): Taphonomy of experimental burials in Taphos-m: The role of fungi Revista Iberoamericana de Micología. See also here (in PDF).

! P.R. Hardoim et al. (2015): The hidden world within plants: ecological and evolutionary considerations for defining functioning of microbial endophytes. In PDF, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews. See also here.

C.J. Harper et al. (2020): Filamentous cyanobacteria preserved in masses of fungal hyphae from the Triassic of Antarctica. Free access, PeerJ, 8: e8660 https://doi.org.

C.J. Harper (2019): Distribution of fungi in a Triassic fern stem. In PDF, Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 108: 387–398, (for 2017).
See also here.

C.J. Harper et al. (2018): Fungal sporulation in a Permian plant fragment from Antarctica. In PDF, Bulletin of Geosciences, 93: 13–26. Czech Geological Survey, Prague.

C.J. Harper et al. (2017): Fungal decay in Permian Glossopteridalean stem and root wood from Antarctica. Abstract, IAWA Journal, 38: 29-48. See also here (in PDF).

C.J. Harper et al. (2015): Fungi associated with Glossopteris (Glossopteridales) leaves from the Permian of Antarctica. In PDF, Zitteliana.

! C.J. Harper (2015): The diversity and interactions of fungi from the Paleozoic and Mesozoic of Antarctica. In PDF, Thesis, University of Kansas, Lawrence. See also here.
Note figure 4 (PDF page 273)): Thin section technique.
Figure 14 (PDF page 353): Diagrammatic representation of the relationship between tylosis formation and fungal distribution in a three-dimensional block diagram of the wood.

C.J. Harper (2015), Ameghiniana 52: Review of Fossil Fungi. Thomas N. Taylor, Michael Krings, Edith L. Taylor. 2015, 382 p. Academic Press, London, UK.
See also here (Google books).

S.W. Heads et al. (2017): The oldest fossil mushroom. PLoS ONE, 12: e0178327.

! D. Hibbett et al. (2016): Climate, decay, and the death of the coal forests. Current Biology, 26: R563-R567: See also here (in PDF).
Please note Figure 1: Characteristics of fungal wood degradation.

! D.S. Hibbett et al. (2007): A higher-level phylogenetic classification of the Fungi. PDF file (1 MB), Mycological Research 111: 509-547.

D. Hibbett et al. (1997): Fossil mushrooms from Miocene and Cretaceous ambers and the evolution of Homobasidiomycetes. Open access, American Journal of Botany, 84: 981-991.

! S. Hongsanan et al. (2016): The evolution of fungal epiphytes. In PDF, Mycosphere, 7: 1690–1712.
See also here.

! G. Janusz et al. (2017): Lignin degradation: microorganisms, enzymes involved, genomes analysis and evolution. Free access, FEMS Microbiol Rev., 41: 941–962.
"... For many years, white rot fungi were suggested to be the most efficient wood degraders. However, recent data suggest that Nature may have an alternative solution—brown rot fungi, which are capable of depolymerizing holocellulose and extensively modifying lignin. ..."

Olivia Judson, The New York Times (June 24, 2010): Bubbles, Bread and Beer. Prototaxites in the media. With references.

R.K. Kar et al. (2003): Occurrence of fossil-wood rotters (polyporales) from the Lameta Formation (Maastrichtian), India. In PDF, Current Science.

R.K. Kar et al., Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany and Department of Botany, Lucknow University, India: Occurrence of fossil-wood rotters (polyporales) from the Lameta Formation (Maastrichtian), India. PDF file, slow download! Current Science vol. 85, no. 1, 2003 (published by the Current Science Association in collaboration with the Indian Academy of Sciences).

Kazinform, Astana, Kazakhstan: Towering mystery fossil was a 'shroom with a view. About the enigmatic taxa Prototaxites. See also here, and there.

K.-P. Kelber, Würzburg (2007): Die Erhaltung und paläobiologische Bedeutung der fossilen Hölzer aus dem süddeutschen Keuper (Trias, Ladinium bis Rhätium).- In German. PDF file, 33 MB! pp. 37-100; In: Schüßler, H. & Simon, T. (eds.): Aus Holz wird Stein.
! A permineralized fungal fossil from the Triassic is shown in fig. 20 (PDF page 35).

! Bryce Kendrick (Author of the book/CD-ROM "The Fifth Kingdom": All About Fungi. A compact mycological encyclopedia, including online images of mushrooms, mycorrhizas, medical mycology, yeasts, lichens, food spoilage, fermented foods, plant diseases, symbioses with animals, and edible, poisonous, and hallucinogenic fungi. Don´t miss the FUNGI FAQ's.

Hans Kerp, Forschungsstelle für Paläobotanik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany: The Rhynie Chert and its Flora, Fungi and non-vascular Plants and Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizae.
These expired links are now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

A.A. Klymiuk and B.A. Sikes (2019): Suppression of root-endogenous fungi in persistently inundated Typha roots. Free access, Mycologia. See also:
ScienceDaily (2019): Fungi living in cattail roots could improve our picture of ancient ecoystems.

A.A. Klymiuk (2018): Microbiological insights into ecology and taphonomy of prehistoric wetlands. In PDF, Dissertation, University of Alberta. See also here.

A.A. Klymiuk (2015): Paleomycology of the Princeton Chert. III. Dictyosporic microfungi, Monodictysporites princetonensis gen. et sp. nov., associated with decayed rhizomes of an Eocene semi-aquatic fern. Abstract, Mycologia, 108: 882-890.

J. Kowal et al. (2018): From rhizoids to roots? Experimental evidence of mutualism between liverworts and ascomycete fungi. In PDF, Annals Of Botany, 121: 221-227. See also here.

! M. Krings and H. Kerp (2023): The fidelity of microbial preservation in the Lower Devonian Rhynie cherts of Scotland. PDF file, starting on PDF page 54. In: J. Reitner, M. Reich, J.-P. Duda (eds.): Abstracts, Symposium Fossillagerstätten and Taphonomy.

! M. Krings et al. (2017): Fungi and fungal interactions in the Rhynie chert: a review of the evidence, with the description of Perexiflasca tayloriana gen. et sp. nov. Free access, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 373. See also here.

M. Krings et al. (2017): Fungi in a Psaronius root mantle from the Rotliegend (Asselian, Lower Permian/Cisuralian) of Thuringia, Germany. Abstract, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 239: 4–30. See also here (in PDF).

M. Krings et al. (2012): Fossil fungi with suggested affinities to the Endogonaceae from the Middle Triassic of Antarctica. In PDF, Mycologia, 104: 835-844. See also here.

M. Krings and T.N. Taylor (2012): Microfossils with possible affinities to the zygomycetous fungi in a Carboniferous cordaitalean ovule. In PDF, Zitteliana A 52, 3-7.

! M. Krings et al. (2012): Fungal Endophytes as a Driving Force in Land Plant Evolution: Evidence from the Fossil Record. In PDF; D. Southworth (ed.): Biocomplexity of Plant-Fungal Interactions (John Wiley & Sons).

M. Krings et al. (2011): The fossil record of the Peronosporomycetes (Oomycota). In PDF, Mycologia, 103: 445-457.

M. Krings et al. (2011): Fungal remains in cordaite (Cordaitales) leaves from the Upper Pennsylvanian of central France- PDF file, Bulletin of Geosciences 86.

M. Krings et al. (2010): Microfungi from the upper Visean (Mississippian) of central France: Structure and development of the sporocarp Mycocarpon cinctum nov. sp. PDF file, Zitteliana, A, 50.

! M. Krings et al. (2010): A fungal community in plant tissue from the Lower Coal Measures (Langsettian, Lower Pennsylvanian) of Great Britain. PDF file, Bulletin of Geosciences, 85.
See also here.

! M. Krings et al. (2007): Fungal endophytes in a 400-million-yr-old land plant: infection pathways, spatial distribution, and host responses. Free Access, New Phytologist, 174: 648–657.

! M. Krings, LMU München: Mikroorganismen aus den Cherts von Esnost und Combres/Lay (Unterkarbon, Frankreich) sowie Rhynie (Unterdevon, Schottland). Scientific project report (in German).
Website outdated. The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! M.A.K. Lalica and A.M.F. Tomescu (2021): The early fossil record of glomeromycete fungi: New data on spores associated with early tracheophytes in the Lower Devonian (Emsian; c. 400 Ma) of Gaspé (Quebec, Canada). In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. See also here.
"... occurrence in fluvial-coastal environments and their putative mycorrhizal role suggest that glomeromycetes were relatively ubiquitous symbionts of tracheophytes, ..."

K.J. Lang, Fachgebiet Pathologie der Waldbäume, Technische Universität München (TUM):
Gehölzkrankheiten in Wort und Bild, and Fäuleerreger in Wort und Bild (in German).
These expired links are now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! Libri Fungorum (supported by CABI Bioscience, CBS and Landcare Research). This project is coordinated by the Index Fungorum Partnership with the aim of providing a digital archive for books, journals, thesauri, indexes and other publication important to systematic mycology (fungi and fungal analogues, including yeasts, lichens, myxomycetes, downy mildews, and all their allies). Navigate from here.

! Biological Sciences, Ohio State University, Lima: Plant Biology at OSU Lima. Go to:
Kingdom Fungi.
Anatomical characteristics.

Ruta B. Limaye et al. (2007): Non-pollen palynomorphs as potential palaeoenvironmental indicators in the Late Quaternary sediments of the west coast of India. PDF file, CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 92, NO. 10.

! C.C. Loron et al. (2019): Early fungi from the Proterozoic era in Arctic Canada. The complimentary shared article; Nature, 570: 232–235. See also here and there (in German).

C.C. Loron et al. (2019): Early fungi from the Proterozoic era in Arctic Canada. Abstract, Nature, 570: 232–235. See also here (in PDF), and there (review, in German).

! D.W. Malloch et al. (1980): Ecological and evolutionary significance of mycorrhizal symbioses in vascular plants (a review). In PDF, PNAS, 77.

! L. Marynowski et al. (2013): Perylene as an indicator of conifer fossil wood degradation by wood-degrading fungi. In PDF, Organic Geochemistry, 59: 143-151.
See also here.

J.L. García Massini, Department of Geological Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas: A Possible Endoparasitic Chytridiomycete Fungus from the Permian of Antarctica. Paleontologia Electronica 2007, 10 (3).

Martin C. Mathes, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA: General Botany. This course is designed to give the students a broad background in the traditional subject matter of botany. This includes topics on organisms in the plant kingdom as well as organisms not in the plant kingdom but which affect the growth ecology or evolution of plants (e.g., selected bacteria, fungi, and selected protists).

! S. McLoughlin et al. (2024): Evidence for saprotrophic digestion of glossopterid pollen from Permian silicified peats of Antarctica. Free access, Grana. https://doi.org/10.1080/00173134.2024.2312610.
"... we describe translucent bodies referable either to fungi (Chytridiomycota) or water moulds (Oomycetes) within the pollen of glossopterid gymnosperms and cordaitaleans, and fern spores from silicified Permian (Guadalupian–Lopingian) peats
[...] Our study reveals that the extensive recapture of spore/pollen-derived nutrients via saprotrophic digestion was already at play in the high-latitude ecosystems of the late Palaeozoic ..."

! S. McLoughlin et al. (2021): Neutron tomography, fluorescence and transmitted light microscopy reveal new insect damage, fungi and plant organ associations in the Late Cretaceous floras of Sweden. Open access, GFF, 143: 248-276.

! B.J.W. Mills et al. (2017): Nutrient acquisition by symbiotic fungi governs Palaeozoic climate transition. Open access, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 373.

! M. Moskal-del Hoyo et al. (2010): Preservation of fungi in archaeological charcoal. In PDF, Journal of Archaeological Science, 37: 2106-2116. See also here.

L.G. Nagy et al. (2011): Understanding the Evolutionary Processes of Fungal Fruiting Bodies: Correlated Evolution and Divergence Times in the Psathyrellaceae. Syst. Biol., 60: 303-317.

M.P. Nelsen and C.K. Boyce (2022): What to Do with Prototaxites? Abstract, International Journal of Plant Sciences.

! M.P. Nelsen et al. (2020): No support for the emergence of lichens prior to the evolution of vascular plants. In PDF, Gebiology, 18: 3-13. See also here.
! Note figure 2: Crown age estimates for LFF [lichenforming fungi] and putative origins of LFA [lichenforming algae].
"... As unambiguous fossil data are lacking to demonstrate the presence of lichens prior to vascular plants, we utilize an alternate approach to assess their historic presence in early terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we analyze new time-calibrated phylogenies of ascomycete fungi and chlorophytan algae
[...] Coupled with the absence of unambiguous fossil data, our work finds no support for lichens having mediated global change during the Neoproterozoic-early Paleozoic prior to vascular plants..."

Offwell Woodland and Wildlife Trust, Honiton, Devon, UK: The Importance of Fungi. The fascinating world of fungi.

! Oxford Bibliographies.
Oxford Bibliographies offers exclusive, authoritative research guides. Combining the best features of an annotated bibliography and a high-level encyclopedia, this cutting-edge resource directs researchers to the best available scholarship across a wide variety of subjects. Go to:
Fossils (by Kevin Boyce).
Evolution of Land Plants (by Charles C. Davis and Sarah Mathews).
Evolution of Fungi (by David Hibbett).
Bryophyte Ecology (by Heinjo During).

J. Parnell et al. (2022): Trace element geochemistry in the earliest terrestrial ecosystem, the Rhynie Chert. Open access, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 23: e2022GC010647.
Note figure 2: Schematic cross-section showing contribution of elements to Devonian chert-forming environment.
Figure 8: Contrast between plant-bearing chert and layers of phytodebris.
"... The Lower Devonian Rhynie Chert shows evidence for extensive phosphorus mobilization in plant debris that was pervasively colonized by fungi. Sandy sediment entrapped with fungi-rich phytodebris contains grains of the phosphate mineral monazite [...]
Abundant pyrite framboids in the Rhynie Chert indicate that plant decomposition included microbial sulphate reduction. ..."

G. Poinar (2019): Associations between Fossil Beetles and Other Organisms. Free access, Geosciences, 9.
Note figure 22: The platypodine, Palaeotylus femoralis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Platypodinae) covered with mycelium, conidiophores and conidia of the ambrosia fungus, Paleoambrosia entomophila (Ophiostomatales: Ophiostomataceae) in Burmese amber.
Note figure 27: Ptilodactylid (Coleoptera: Ptilodactylidae) beetle with attached pollinarium (arrow) of Annulites mexicana (Angiospermae: Orchidaceae) in Mexican amber.

G. Poinar (2014): Evolutionary history of terrestrial pathogens and endoparasites as revealed in fossils and subfossils. In PDF, Advances in Biology. See also here (abstract).

Silvia Pressel et al. (2010): Fungal symbioses in bryophytes: New insights in the Twenty First Century. PDF file, Phytotaxa, 9: 238-253. See also here (open access).

W.R. Rimington et al. (2018): Ancient plants with ancient fungi: liverworts associate with early-diverging arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Proc. R. Soc. B, 285: 20181600. See also here.

E.M. Roberts et al. (2016): Oligocene Termite Nests with In Situ Fungus Gardens from the Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania, Support a Paleogene African Origin for Insect Agriculture. PLoS ONE, 11.

A.J. Sagasti and J. Bodnar (2023): Biological decay by microorganisms in stems from the Upper Triassic Ischigualasto-Formation (San Juan Province, Argentina): A striking microbial diversity in Carnian-Norian terrestrial ecosystems. Abstract, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 315.
"... species show loss of middle lamella, thinning, and whitening of tracheid cell walls, and detachment of the S3 layer, consistent with selective delignification by white rot. This type of rot is the product of lignin and cellulosic degradation by Basidiomycetes and Ascomycetes ..."

S. Saha et al. (2023): Fine root decomposition in forest ecosystems: an ecological perspective. Free access, Front. Plant Sci., 14. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1277510.

A. Salt (2018): Plants and Fungi: An ancient partnership. Botany One.

W.B. Sanders (2023): Is lichen symbiont mutualism a myth? Open access, BioScience, 73: 623–634.
See likewise here (in PDF).
Note figure 3: Two symbioses on intertidal rocks compared with respect to the lichen concept.
Figure 4: Two symbioses involving fungi of the Verrucariaceae (Ascomycota) and green algae of the Prasiolaceae compared with respect to the lichen concept.

A.R. Schmidt et al. (2014): Amber fossils of sooty moulds. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 200: 53-64.

A.R. Schmidt et al. (2007): Carnivorous Fungi from Cretaceous Amber. PDF file, Science, 2007: 1743.
See also here.

A.B. Schwendemann et al. (2011): Morphological and functional stasis in mycorrhizal root nodules as exhibited by a Triassic conifer. In PDF.

Peter v. Sengbusch, Botanik Online: Wechselwirkungen zwischen Pflanzen und Pilzen; Evolution parasitischer und symbiotischer Beziehungen zwischen ihnen (in German).
Still available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

M.-A. Selosse et al. (2015): Plants, fungi and oomycetes: a 400-million year affair that shapes the biosphere. New Phytologist. 10th New Phytologist Workshop on the "Origin and evolution of plants and their interactions with fungi", London, UK, September 2014.

M.A. Selosse and C. Strullu-Derrien (2015): Origins of the terrestrial flora: A symbiosis with fungi? In PDF, BIO Web of Conferences, 4.

! M.-A. Selosse and F. Rousset (2011): The Plant-Fungal Marketplace. In PDF, Science.

B.J. Slater et al. (2014): A high-latitude Gondwanan lagerstätte: The Permian permineralised peat biota of the Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica. In PDF, Gondwana Research. On PDF page 16: Reconstruction of the Lambert Graben Middle Permian Alluvial valley palaeoecosystem, With bracket fungus on a fallen log in the foreground.

B.J. Slater et al. (2013): Peronosporomycetes (Oomycota) from a Middle Permian Permineralised Peat within the Bainmedart Coal Measures, Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica.

Smithsonian Science: Fungi still visible in wood charcoal centuries after burning.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

M. Speranza et al. (2010): Traditional and new microscopy techniques applied to the study of microscopic fungi included in amber. PDF file, In: A. Méndez-Vilas and J. Díaz (eds.): Microscopy: Science, Technology, Applications and Education. Scanning electron microscopy in backscattered electron mode, with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy microanalysis.
Now recovered from the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Hans Steur, Ellecom, The Netherlands: Hans´ Paleobotany Pages. Plant life from the Silurian to the Cretaceous. Go to:
Prototaxites, a huge, 400 million years old, fungus? Or an enormous lichen?

C. Strullu-Derrien et al. (2023): A fungal plant pathogen discovered in the Devonian Rhynie Chert. Open access, Nature Communications, 14.
"... The fungus forms a stroma-like structure with conidiophores arising in tufts outside the cuticle on aerial axes and leaf-like appendages of the lycopsid plant Asteroxylon mackiei. It causes a reaction in the plant that gives rise to dome-shaped surface projections. This suite of features in the fungus together with the plant reaction tissues provides evidence of it being a plant pathogenic fungus ..."

C. Strullu-Derrien et al. (2021): Blue stain fungi infecting an 84-million-year-old conifer from South Africa. Free access, The New Phytologist, 233: 1032-1037.
See also here.

! C. Strullu-Derrien et al. (2018): The origin and evolution of mycorrhizal symbioses: from palaeomycology to phylogenomics. Free access, New Phytologist, 220: 1012–1030.
! Note figure 1: Geological timescale with oldest known fossils. Left: Antiquity of genomic traits related to mycorrhizal evolution based on molecular clock estimates. Right: Oldest known fossils.
Figure 5: Simplified phylogenetic tree showing the minimum stratigraphic ranges of selected groups based on fossils (thick bars) and their minimum implied range extensions (thin lines).

! C. Strullu-Derrien et al. (2016): Origins of the mycorrhizal symbioses. PDF file, In: F Martin (ed.): Molecular Mycorrhizal Symbiosis, John Wiley & Sons.

C. Strullu-Derrien et al. (2011): Evidence of parasitic Oomycetes (Peronosporomycetes) infecting the stem cortex of the Carboniferous seed fern Lyginopteris oldhamia. IN PDF, Proc. R. Soc. B, 278: 675-680.

S.P. Stubblefield et al. (1985): Studies of paleozoic fungi. IV. Wood-decaying fungi in Callixylon newberryi from the upper Devonian. Abstract, American Journal of Botany.
See also here.

H. Süss and E. Velitzelos (2001): Lebensspuren holzzerstörender Organismen an fossilen Hölzern aus dem Tertiär der Insel Lesbos, Griechenland. PDF file, in German. Mitt. Mus. Naturkunde. Berlin, Geowiss., 4: 57-69.

L.H. Tanner and S.G. Lucas (2013): Degraded wood in the Upper Triassic Petrified Forest Formation (Chinle Group), northern Arizona: Differentiating fungal rot from arthropod boring. In PDF, p. 582-588; in: Tanner, L.H., Spielmann, J.A. and Lucas, S.G. (eds.): The Triassic System. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin, 61.

! T.N. Taylor et al. (2015): Fungal Diversity in the Fossil Record. In PDF, see also here (abstract).

T.N. Taylor et al. (2011): The advantage of thin section preparations over acetate peels in the study of late Paleozoic fungi and other microorganisms. Abstract, Palaios. See also here.

T.N. Taylor and M. Krings (2010): Paleomycology: the re-discovery of the obvious. Abstract, Palaios, 25: 283-286.

! T.N. Taylor and M. Krings (2005): Fossil microorganisms and land plants: Associations and interactions. PDF file, Symbiosis, 40: 119-135.
This expired link is now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
See also here.

! T.N. Taylor et al. (2004): Fungi from the Rhynie Chert: A view from the dark side. In PDF, Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Earth Sciences, 94: 457-473.

T.N. Taylor and E.L. Taylor (1997): The distribution and interactions of some Paleozoic fungi. Abstract, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 95: 83-94.

T.N. Taylor and J.M. Osborn (1996): The importance of fungi in shaping the paleoecosystem. Abstract, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology.

! T.N. Taylor and J.M. Osborn (1992): The Role of Wood in Understanding Saprophytism in the Fossil Record. PDF file, Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, 147: 147-153.

N. Tian et al. (2020): White-rotting fungus with clamp-connections in a coniferous wood from the Lower Cretaceous of Heilongjiang Province, NE China. Free access, Cretaceous Research, 105.

Nigel H. Trewin, Stephen R. Fayers & Lyall I. Anderson, University of Aberdeen: The Biota of Early Terrestrial Ecosystems - The Rhynie Chert: Fungi.

D. Uhl et al. (2020): Woody charcoal with traces of pre-charring decay from the Late Oligocene (Chattian) of Norken (Westerwald, Rhineland-Palatinate, W Germany). In PDF, Acta Palaeobotanica, 60: 43–50.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Wood Rots and Decays. In PDF.

! M.G.A. van der Heijden et al. (2015): Mycorrhizal ecology and evolution: the past, the present, and the future. In PDF, New Phytologist, 205: 1406–1423. See also here.

L.G. van Galen et al. (2023): Correlated evolution in an ectomycorrhizal host–symbiont system. Open access, New Phytologist, 238: 1215–1229doi: 10.1111/nph.18802.

Henk Visscher et al. (2011): Fungal virulence at the time of the end-Permian biosphere crisis? Abstract, Geology, 39. See also:
Fungi helped destroy forests during mass extinction 250 million years ago. By Robert Sanders, UC Berkely News Center, August 5, 2011.
Forest-killing fungi could multiply in a warming world. By Bob Berwyn, August 8, 2011.

S. Vivelo and J.M. Bhatnagar (2019): An evolutionary signal to fungal succession during plant litter decay. Open access, FEMS microbiology ecology, 95.

! M. Wan et al. (2016): Plant-arthropod and plant-fungus interactions in late Permian gymnospermous woods from the Bogda Mountains, Xinjiang, northwestern China. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 235: 120–128.
See also here.

! B. Wang and Y.-L. Qiu (2006): Phylogenetic distribution and evolution of mycorrhizas in land plants. In PDF, Mycorrhiza, 16: 299-363. See also here.

The Washington Post: Scientists Find Fossils in Sexual Union. (The Associated Press, November 3, 2005). "Swarm cells" of the fungus Myxomycetes. See also here, (Glasgow Daily Record, UK), and there (The Hindu).

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
! Mycology,
and Fungus.
See also: Pilze,
and Baumpilze (in German).

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Category:Enigmatic fungus taxa.
Category:Paleozoic fungi.
Prototaxites.

Wikispaces, Tangient LLC, San Francisco, CA (note the Wikipedia entry):
CDS Biology Website:
! The Colonization of Land by Plants and Fungi. Lecture notes, Powerpoint presentation.
Websites outdated. Links lead to versions archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! J.P. Wilson et al. (2017): Dynamic Carboniferous tropical forests: new views of plant function and potential for physiological forcing of climate. In PDF, New Phytologist, 215: 1333–1353. See also here.
! Figure 2 shows the fungal evolution and abundance of coal basin sediments over the Phanerozoic.

Michael Wood: MykoWeb. WWW pages devoted to the science of mycology.

G. Worobiec and B. Erdei (2023): The first fossil record of the anamorphic genus Zygosporium Mont. from the Oligocene of Csolnok (N Hungary). Open access, Mycological Progress, 22.

! The WWW Virtual Library: Mycology.

! A. Xie et al. (2023): Ancient Basidiomycota in an extinct conifer-like tree, Xenoxylon utahense, and a brief survey of fungi in the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation, USA. Free access, Journal of Paleontology, 97: 754–763.