One of the papers referenced in NW’s A Tale of Nature’s Collaboration – Mycorrhizal Connections and Evolution,.
NSWFS member Norris Whiston has a passion for “distilling complex info”, at least that’s the way I would describe it. His latest: A “One-Pager” on the historical (geological) timeline for evolution of Mycorrhizae and their associations with plants.
It begins 500 MYA (Million years Ago) when “ARBUSCULAR FUNGI began to associate with liverworts, recycle and form Earth’s earliest soil”, and goes up to “[84-66 MYA]:
ORCHIDACEAE FUNGI Orchids, including lady slippers and ladies’ tresses have a special fungus. Dr. Santiago R. Ramırez (UC Davis): “Our results indicate that the most recent common ancestor of extant orchids lived in the Late Cretaceous and also suggest that the dramatic radiation of orchids began shortly after the mass extinctions at the K/T boundary. These results further support the hypothesis of an ancient origin for Orchidaceae.”
All appropriate referenced of course. See NW Guides & Keys for A Tale of Nature’s Collaboration – Mycorrhizal Connections and Evolution, and the full set of Norris Whiston’s “distillations”.
– david p
