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do lichens or fungi ever get fossilized?

  • 31 Jan 2025 7:46 AM
    Message # 13457395

    I found a fossilized branch yesterday with interesting circular spots only on one side. The branch was in an small ancient bog, either grew there or fell in from the surrounding area. There are concentric patterns in most of these spots made me think of lichens and made me curious. Just read about 400 million year old fossilized sea animal puke yesterday so anything sounds possible.

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  • 01 Feb 2025 3:04 PM
    Reply # 13457841 on 13457395

    Interesting question.  Apparently, yes for both taxa.


    Doing a brief scan on the interweb revealed these sources.  I cannot validate the accuracy of this information.  Interesting topic though.  I imagine that crustose lichens would be easily fossilized as oppose to the soft thalli counterparts.  There's probably some encased in amber or impressions in certain rock through the carbonization process or casts/molds of buried organism.


    https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/fungi/lichens/lichenfr.html

    https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.12009

    https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/fungi/fungifr.html


    -Lin

  • 02 Feb 2025 11:56 AM
    Reply # 13458086 on 13457395

    Purvis, 2000 Lichens. : The oldest undisputed fossil lichen is Winfrenatia reticulata from the lower Devonian (c 400 million years).


    I think a new lichen book has more - I'll send when I am in Corvallis next time.

    best, Daph

  • 03 Feb 2025 7:10 AM
    Reply # 13458353 on 13457395

    Thank you both for the info! I'm amazed they can be fossilized. Pretty cool!

  • 01 Mar 2025 2:27 PM
    Reply # 13469469 on 13457395

    This is such an interesting topic! 


    Thanks for bringing it up Mickie, and for the resources Lin & Daph


    There is quite a lot of fossilized wood out here near Vantage, WA, I'll keep an eye out for any interesting patterns the next time I'm out there..

    Last modified: 01 Mar 2025 2:27 PM | Anonymous member
  • 04 Mar 2025 11:04 PM
    Reply # 13470712 on 13457395

    I had a student who did a research project and determined that there are only about 150 total verified lichen fossils and about half of those are from one site.

  • 05 Mar 2025 7:35 AM
    Reply # 13470843 on 13457395
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    The coolest local fossil lichen I have seen was republished by Eric Peterson in 2000:

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0024282999902578


  • 05 Mar 2025 7:53 AM
    Reply # 13470856 on 13457395

    Do the orange spots on the limb in my photos look like lichens? Or maybe some kind of fungus? Or just some oddball thing that happened when the limb was silicified?

  • 06 Mar 2025 8:12 AM
    Reply # 13471376 on 13457395
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    I'm not sure. Could they be bark stacks? (like you sometimes see on ponderosa pine or douglas fir).

  • 06 Mar 2025 8:43 AM
    Reply # 13471407 on 13457395

    I don't know as I've seen bark stacks but the background around these spots doesn't look like pine bark at all to me. They're all around 1-1.5 cm across.

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