Organism · Fungi
Gondwanagaricites magnificus
Source time context (not species duration) · ≈ 143–66 Ma
Inferred life reconstruction
Gondwanagaricites magnificus
Overview
Gondwanagaricites magnificus is a Cretaceous fossil mushroom with a connected cap, gills, and stalk. One small fruiting body conveys the familiar arrangement of a mushroom. It provides evidence for comparing ancient mushrooms down to their individual parts.[1]
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Key facts
The small mushroom’s cap was described as approximately 1 cm in diameter. Its stalk was about 3.4 cm long. Picturing a familiar ruler helps convey the size of this small fruiting body.[1]
Time and place
The type specimen comes from the Nova Olinda Member of the Crato Formation on the Araripe Plateau in present-day Ceará, Brazil. The 2017 paper described it as a late Aptian fossil of the Early Cretaceous. The Cretaceous spanned approximately 140–66 million years ago.[1][3]
The time range describes source context, not the complete duration of this species.
Size, form and skeleton
URM-88000 preserves a nearly complete cap connected with gills, stalk, and base. A cap diameter of approximately 10 mm, stalk length of about 34 mm, and stalk width of about 6.5 mm were reported. The broad cap and supporting stalk can be examined separately.[1]
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Habitat and reproduction
The cap-and-stalk structure we call a mushroom is its fruiting body. Even gills were described in this fossil, allowing comparison of structures beneath the cap. There is interest in examining the arrangement under the cap as well as the outer silhouette.[1]
Fossil discovery
Heads and colleagues described the cap, gills, and stalk of URM-88000 in 2017. In 2018, nomenclatural records were corrected, including registration of the name and identification of the illustration depicting the type specimen. Both describing the fossil’s form and the procedure for establishing its name remain part of its research history.[1][2]
References
- Heads et al.2017 — The oldest fossil mushroom
- 2018 correction — The naming record of Gondwanagaricites
- International Commission on Stratigraphy (2024) — Geological time chart
- Pluricarpellatia, a nymphaealean angiosperm from the Lower Cretaceous of northern Gondwana (Crato Formation, Brazil)
- Heads et al. (2017) — A Cretaceous mushroom with preserved cap and gills
- International Commission on Stratigraphy (2024) — Geological time chart
- 2018 correction — The naming record of Gondwanagaricites
- Heads et al. (2017) — A Cretaceous mushroom with preserved cap and gills
- International Commission on Stratigraphy (2024) — Geological time chart
- 2018 correction — The naming record of Gondwanagaricites
- 1997 study — A Cretaceous mushroom in amber
- International Commission on Stratigraphy (2024) — Geological time chart
Research questions
How can structures beneath a small cap help us compare ancient mushrooms? We can examine the cap outline and gills together with the stalk and base. When several parts of a fruiting body are preserved, questions about mushroom form also broaden.[1]
Observation
The representative magnet repeats the same reconstruction motif in a decorative arrangement. Grouping and spacing are artistic; the description below concerns each source motif. From the rounded edge of the cap, picture the gills beneath it, then move your gaze to the stalk and base. Even a small fruiting body contains distinctive features in its different parts.[1]
Related organisms
Pluricarpellatia peltataFlowering plantsSource time context (not species duration) · ≈ 143–66 MaPlants and mushrooms preserved in the Crato Formation
The Crato Formation of present-day northeastern Brazil is known for Pluricarpellatia with leaves, roots, and seeds, and Gondwanagaricites with a preserved cap, gills, and stalk. In the same Early Cretaceous strata, we can examine several plant organs alongside a small mushroom fruiting body.
Archaeomarasmius leggettiFungiSource time context (not species duration) · ≈ 143–66 MaTwo ways Cretaceous mushrooms were preserved
Gondwanagaricites from present-day Brazil survived through mineral replacement in limestone, while Archaeomarasmius from New Jersey, USA, was preserved in amber. The 2017 paper noted that all other fossil mushrooms known up to that time had come from amber. Comparing Cretaceous mushrooms from different regions introduces several ways that small caps and stalks can become fossils.