Winfrenatia

Winfrenatia is a genus that contains the oldest-known terrestrial lichen,[1] occurring in fossils preserved in the lower Devonian Rhynie chert. The genus contains the single species Winfrenatia reticulata, named for the texture of its surface. Both the species and the genus were described in 1997.[2]

Winfrenatia
Reconstruction of the transverse view of Winfrenatia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Genus: Winfrenatia
T.N.Taylor, Hass & Kerp (1997)
Species:
†W. reticulata
Binomial name
†Winfrenatia reticulata
T.N.Taylor, Hass & Kerp (1997)

It comprises a thallus, made of layered, aseptate hyphae, with a number of depressions on its top surface. Each depression contains a net of hyphae holding a sheathed cyanobacterium. The fungus appears to be related to the Zygomycetes, and the photosynthetic partner of photobiont resembles the coccoid cyanobacteria Gloeocapsa and Chroococcidiopsis.[1][2][3] There may be two separate algae, making the lichen a symbiosis of three organisms.[3]

References
  1. Taylor, T.N.; Hass, H.; Remy, W.; Kerp, H. (1995). "The oldest fossil lichen". Nature. 378 (6554): 244. Bibcode:1995Natur.378..244T. doi:10.1038/378244a0. S2CID 4353572.
  2. Taylor, T.N.; Hass, H.; Kerp, H. (1997). "A cyanolichen from the lower Devonian Rhynie chert". American Journal of Botany. 84 (7): 992–1004. doi:10.2307/2446290. ISSN 0002-9122. JSTOR 2446290. PMID 21708654.
  3. Karatygin, I.V.; Snigirevskaya, N.S.; Vikulin, S.V. (2009). "The most ancient terrestrial lichen Winfrenatia reticulata: A new find and new interpretation". Paleontological Journal. 43: 107–114. doi:10.1134/S0031030109010110. S2CID 85262818.


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