# Coprinites > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Coprinites > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Coprinites.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprinites > Source revision: 1136188586 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Extinct genus of fungi}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = {{Fossilrange|Burdigalian}} | image = Coprinites_dominicana.png | parent_authority = [Poinar](/source/George_Poinar_Jr.) & [Singer](/source/Rolf_Singer), 1990 | taxon = Coprinites dominicana | authority = Poinar & Singer, 1990 }} '''''Coprinites''''' is an [extinct](/source/extinct) [monotypic](/source/monotypic) [genus](/source/genus) of [gilled](/source/Agaricales) [fungus](/source/fungus) in the [Agaricales](/source/Agaricales) family [Agaricaceae](/source/Agaricaceae).{{Cite journal |last1=Poinar |first1=G. |last2=Singer |first2=R. |year=1990 |title=Upper Eocene gilled mushroom from the Dominican Republic |journal= Science |volume=248 |pages=1099–1101 |pmid=17733372 |doi=10.1126/science.248.4959.1099 |issue=4959|bibcode=1990Sci...248.1099P |s2cid=42236437 }}{{Cite journal |last1=Hibbet |first1=D.S. |last2=Grimaldi |first2=D.S. |last3=Donoghue |first3=M.J. |year=1997 |title=Fossil mushrooms from Miocene and Cretaceous ambers and the evolution of Homobasidiomycetes |journal= American Journal of Botany |volume=84 |issue=8 |pages=981–991 |doi=10.2307/2446289|jstor=2446289 |doi-access=free }} At present it contains the single [species](/source/species) '''''Coprinites dominicana'''''. The genus is solely known from the early [Miocene](/source/Miocene), [Burdigalian](/source/Burdigalian) stage, [Dominican amber](/source/Dominican_amber) deposits on the island of [Hispaniola](/source/Hispaniola).{{cite journal |last1=Iturralde-Vinent |first1=M.A. |author2=MacPhee, R.D.E. |year=1996 |title=Age and Paleogeographical Origin of Dominican Amber |journal= Science |volume=273|pages=1850–1852 |doi=10.1126/science.273.5283.1850 |issue=5283|bibcode=1996Sci...273.1850I |s2cid=129754021 }} ''Coprinites'' is one of only four known agarics fungus species known in the fossil record and the first of three to be described from Dominican amber.{{Cite journal |last1=Hibbet |first1=D.S. |year=2003 |title=Another Fossil Agaric from Dominican Amber |journal= Mycologia |volume=95 |issue=4 |pages=685–687 |doi=10.2307/3761943 |jstor=3761943 |pmid=21148976|display-authors=etal}} ==History and classification== The genus is known only from the single [holotype](/source/holotype) "''AF-9-11''", a single fruiting body, [mushroom](/source/mushroom), specimen currently residing in the Poinar collections maintained by the [University of California, Berkeley](/source/University_of_California%2C_Berkeley). The specimen was collected from the La Toca amber mine, northeast of [Santiago de los Caballeros](/source/Santiago_de_los_Caballeros), in the [Cordillera Septentrional](/source/Cordillera_Septentrional) area of the [Dominican Republic](/source/Dominican_Republic). It was first studied by [Dr. George Poinar](/source/George_Poinar_Jr.) of the UC, Berkeley and [Dr. Rolf Singer](/source/Rolf_Singer) from the [Field Museum of Natural History](/source/Field_Museum_of_Natural_History) in [Chicago, Illinois](/source/Chicago%2C_Illinois). Poinar and Singer published their 1990 [type description](/source/Type_(biology)) in the journal ''[Science](/source/Science_(journal))''. The generic epithet ''Coprinites'' is in reference to the genus similarity to the modern genus ''[Coprinus](/source/Coprinus)''. The specific epithet "''dominicana''" was coined by the authors in reference to the Dominican Republic where the fossil was recovered. When initially published ''Coprinites dominicana'' was the first species of agaric fungus to be described. Two more species ''[Protomycena electra](/source/Protomycena)'' and ''[Aureofungus yaniguaensis](/source/Aureofungus)'' have since been described from fossils found in the amber mines of the Dominican Republic, while the fourth species ''[Archaeomarasmius leggeti](/source/Archaeomarasmius)'' is from older [Cretaceous](/source/Cretaceous) age [New Jersey Amber](/source/New_Jersey_Amber). With the 2007 publication of a fifth extinct agaric species, ''[Palaeoagaracites antiquus](/source/Palaeoagaracites)'' the age for the order was pushed back to the [Albian](/source/Albian) (approximately 100 [Ma](/source/Mya_(unit))).{{Cite journal |last1=Poinar |first1=G.O. |author2=Buckley, R. |year=2007 |title=Evidence of mycoparasitism and hypermycoparasitism in Early Cretaceous amber |journal= Mycological Research |volume=111 |issue=4 |pages=503–506 |doi=10.1016/j.mycres.2007.02.004 |pmid=17512712}} ==Description== The holotype of ''Coprinites'' is a lone fruiting body without any associated structures and a partly disarticulated [stipe](/source/Stipe_(mycology)) preserved in a piece of clear yellow amber approximately {{convert|9|-|6|mm|in}} and weight {{convert|0.5|g|oz}}. The [pileus](/source/Pileus_(mycology)) is {{convert|3.5|mm|in}} in diameter and has a convex shape sporting a small central depression. The brownish-pink flesh is thin with a scaly-pectinate surface. The margin is striated and slightly flared. ''Coprinites'' sports fifteen nondeccurent [lamellae](/source/Lamella_(mycology)), or gills, which reach the outer pileus and thirteen lamellulae, short gills which do not reach the edge, of varying lengths. The pileus is centered on the stipe, which is {{convert|4|mm|in}} in diameter and incomplete, with part of the stipe base preserved in the amber next to the pileus. The light brown basidiospores, present on the [hymenium](/source/hymenium) associated with the fruiting body, are smooth and ellipsoidal to oblong. Each basidiospore is approximately 6 to 7 [μm](/source/%CE%BCm) long and appear to possess a germ pore. ''Coprinites'' was originally placed in the family [Coprinaceae](/source/Coprinaceae) based on the visible structures, or macromorphology of the fruiting body and the microscopic features preserved in the amber specimen. The combination of characters present did not match any modern genus of the mushroom order [Agaricales](/source/Agaricales) leading Poinar and Singer to erect the genus ''Coprinites''. The lack of [autodeliquescence](/source/Hygroscopy) along with the mushrooms morphology lead [David Hibbett](/source/David_S._Hibbett), [Michael Donoghue](/source/Michael_J._Donoghue) and [David Grimaldi](/source/David_Grimaldi_(entomologist)) to question the placement of ''Coprinites''. They noted the characters of the genus are similar to those of genus ''[Leucocoprinus](/source/Leucocoprinus)'' mushrooms. They suggested that ''Coprinites'' could be treated as either a member of Coprinaceae or [Agaricaceae](/source/Agaricaceae), to which ''Leucocoprinus'' belongs. With a number of molecular studies a large portion of the genera formerly placed in Coprinaceae, including ''Coprinus'', have been moved into Agaricaceae. Thus supporting the suggestion of Hibbet, Donoghue, and Grimaldi.{{cite journal|vauthors=Redhead SA, Vilgalys R, ((Moncalvo J-M)), Johnson J, ((Hopple JS Jr))|year=2001|title=''Coprinus'' Pers. and the disposition of ''Coprinus'' species ''sensu lato'' |journal=Taxon |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=203–41 |doi=10.2307/1224525 |jstor=1224525}} ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q5168923}} †Protomycena †Protomycena Category:Prehistoric fungi Category:Natural history of Hispaniola Category:Fossil taxa described in 1997 Category:Miocene life Category:Natural history of the Dominican Republic Category:Neogene fungi Category:Taxa named by Rolf Singer Category:Taxa named by George Poinar Jr. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Coprinites](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprinites) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprinites?action=history)). 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