Giant 300-million-year-old fungi fossils discovered in Aveiro region
The study of the latest fossil discovery sheds light on the ancient relationship between fungi and plants, offering deeper insight into the ecological processes that shaped the Paleozoic flora.
A team of Portuguese researchers has uncovered 300-million-year-old fossils of primitive fungi in Anadia, Aveiro. The study, led by palaeontologist Pedro Correia from the Geosciences Centre (CGEO) of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC), was conducted in collaboration with Artur Sá (University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro – UTAD) and Zélia Pereira (National Laboratory for Energy and Geology – LNEG).
Published in the international journal Geobios, the discovery describes a new genus and species, Megaglomerospora lealiae, representing the largest spores ever recorded for the Glomeromycota division of the Fungi kingdom.
These fungi formed arbuscular mycorrhizae – symbiotic associations with the roots of about 80% of today’s vascular plants. Although only about 1.6 mm in diameter, the fossil spores are considered giants within the Glomeromycetes class and mark the first fossil record of this kind from the Carboniferous period in the Iberian Peninsula.
The findings provide key evidence of how these symbiotic fungi facilitated nutrient exchange with plants during a period of unusually high atmospheric oxygen (30–35%) and low CO₂ levels, thereby promoting the development of extensive underground networks.
“This discovery confirms that mutualistic plant–fungus interactions were already crucial in structuring terrestrial ecosystems 300 million years ago,” the research team stated. The new species is named in honour of Fernanda Leal, a PhD student at the University of Porto, for her contribution to its classification.
The full study, “Megaglomerospora lealiae nov. gen., nov. sp. from the upper Carboniferous of Portugal: the largest glomeromycotan fungal spores”, is available here.
© DR
© DR