Fungal evolution (contributed by Jonathan Dixon, 2001)

This is a legacy website which is primarily aimed at undergraduates in biological sciences, but anyone with a keen interest in fungi may still find it useful and appealing.

Designed in 2001 by Jonathan Dixon, who was then a final year undergraduate student at the University of Manchester (UK), it was updated by David Moore in 2011.

But knowledge and ideas about the taxonomy, phylogeny and evolution of fungi have changed greatly since then.

The most current information can be found in the pages of 21st Century Guidebook to Fungi Online elsewhere on this website. Particularly:

Chapter 2: Evolutionary origins

and

Chapter 3: Natural classification of fungi

 

Jonathan Dixon decided to split the topic of fungal evolution into three main headings, however there is no order or dominance to any one grouping, so you can view them as you wish. They are:

Kingdom Fungi: This section briefly describes whereabouts fungi lies in the six kingdoms of life. It includes descriptions of all kingdoms, emphasizing, of course, on the broad definition of fungi.

Diversification: The kingdom fungi is split into 4 main phyla. This section includes knowledge regarding these phyla, as well as information on those organisms that have one time or another been confused with fungi.

Origins of fungi: Under this heading you will find information regarding the actual times of fungi divergence and the methods involved to find out such evolutionary dates.

You will also find useful bibliography, links and glossary pages.

Updated July, 2019