The study of the fossil record has revealed many fungal structures with high similarity to the spores produced by current species of AMF (Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi). The description of this material provides information about the evolutionary radiation of major AMF clades that occurred in these paleoenvironments, particularly those from the early Paleozoic Era, during the Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian periods. This page presents the species of AMF described from the fossil record, including information on the type locality, age, and stratigraphic position where they were found.
FAMILY GIGASPORACEAE
Gigasporites myriamyces Phipps & Taylor
Type Locality: Fremouw Peak, Antarctica, near Beardome Glacier
Age and stratgraphic position: Early Devonian(Pragian, ∼400 myBP)
Reference: Phipps, C.J.; Taylor, J.N. 1996. Mixed arbuscular mycorrhizas from the Triassic of Antarctica. Mycologia. 88:707-714
Scutellosporites devonicus Dotzler, M. Krings, T.N. Taylor & Agerer
Type Locality: Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, National Grid Reference NJ 494276
Age and stratgraphic position: Early Medium Triassic
Reference: Dotzler, N.; Krings, M.; Taylor, T.N.; Agerer, R. 2006. Germination shields in Scuttellospora (Glomeromycota: Diversisporales, Gigasporaceae) in the 400 million-year-old Rhynie chert. Mycological Progress. 5(3):178-184
FAMILY GLOMERACEAE
Glomites cycestris Phipps & Taylor
Type Locality: Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, National Grid Reference NJ 494276
Age and stratgraphic position: Early Medium Triassic
Reference: Phipps, C.J.; Taylor, J.N. 1996. Mixed arbuscular mycorrhizas from the Triassic of Antarctica. Mycologia. 88:707-714
Glomites rhyniensis Taylor, remy, Hass & Kerp
Type Locality: Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, National Grid Reference NJ 494276
Age and stratgraphic position: Early Devonian
Reference: Taylor, T.N.; Remy, W.; Hass, H.; Kerp, H. 1995. Fossil arbuscular mycorrhizae from the Early Devonian. Mycologia. 87:560-573
Glomites sporocarpoides Karatygin, Snigirevskaya, K. Demchenko & Zdebska
Type Locality: Scotland, Aberdeenshire, near the ville of Rhynie;
Age and stratgraphic position: Early Devonian
Reference: Karatygin, I.V.; Snigirevskaya, N.S.; Demchenko, K.N. 2006. Species of the genus Glomites as plant mycobionts in Early Devonian Ecosystems. Paleontological Journal 40(5): 572-579
Glomites vertebrariae C.J. Harper, T.N. Taylor, M. Krings & E.L. Taylor
Type Locality: Skaar Ridge, Beardmore Glacier area, Queen Alexandra Range, central
Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica.
Age and stratgraphic position: Upper Permian.
Reference: Harper, C.J.; Taylor, T.N.; Krings, M.; Taylor, E.L. 2013. Mycorrhizal symbiosis in the Paleozoic seed fern Glossopteris from Antarctica. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 192:22-31
Glomorphites intercalaris García Massini
Type Locality: Skaar Ridge, Queen Alexandra Range, Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica
Age and stratgraphic position: Upper Permian
Reference: García Massini, J.L. 2007. A glomalean fungus from the Permian of Antarctica. International Journal of Plant Sciences. 168(5):673-678
Palaeoglomus boullardii Strullu-Derrien & Strullu
Type Locality: Rhynie, North West of Aberdeen (Scotland)
Age and stratgraphic position: Early Devonian (c. 407 Myr, Mark et al., 2013)
Reference: Strullu-Derrien, C; Kenrick,P; Pressel, S; Duckett, JG; Rioult, JP; Strullu, DG. 2014. Fungal associations in Horneophyton ligneri from the Rhynie Chert (c. 407 million year old) closely resemble those in extant lower land plants: novel insights into ancestral plant-fungus symbioses. New Phytologist. 203(3):964-979
Palaeoglomus grayi Redecker
Type Locality: Guttenberg Formation, Plateville, Wisconsin, USA
Age and stratgraphic position: Medium Ordovician
Reference: Redecker, D.; Kodner, R.; Graham, L.E. 2002. Palaeoglomus grayi from the Ordovician. Mycotaxon 84: 33–37.
Palaeoglomus strotheri Retalkack
Type Locality: Douglas Dam, Sevier County, Tennessee, USA
Age and stratgraphic position: Early to Meadium Ordovician
Reference: Retalkack, G.J. 2019. Ordovician land plants and fungi from Douglas Dam, Tennessee. The Palaeobotanist 68:1-33.
FAMILY ARCHAEOSPORACEAE
Archaeosporites rhyniensis C. Walker, C.J. Harper & M. Krings
Type Locality: Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, National Grid Reference NJ 494276
Age and stratgraphic position: Early Devonian, 411.5 ± 1.3 Ma (Parry et al., 2011), 407.1 ± 2.2 Ma (Mark et al., 2011)
Reference: Harper, C.J.; Walker, C.; Schwendemann, A.B.; Kerp, H.; Krings, M. 2020. Archaeosporites rhyniensis gen. et sp. nov. (Glomeromycota, Archaeosporaceae) from the Lower Devonian Rhynie chert: a fungal lineage morphologically unchanged for more than 400 million years. Annals of Botany. 126(5):915-928
FAMILY AMBISPORACEAE
Mycokidstonia sphaeialoides D. Pons & Locquin
Type Locality: Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK
Age and stratgraphic position: Early Devonian
Reference: Pons, D.; Locquin, M.V. 1981. Mycokidstonia sphaerialoides Pons & Locquin, gen. et sp. nov., Ascomycètes fossile Dévonien. Cahiers de Micropaléontologie. 1:101-104