Paleomycology

Paleomycology (from other Greek παλαιός - “ancient”, μύκης - “mushroom” and λόγος - “teaching”) is a section of paleontology that studies fossil remains of mushrooms . Fossil deposits in large quantities are found in ancient sedimentary rocks, buried soils, coals, oil shales , peat , as well as in fossilized wood , in amber , on leaf prints, on fossilized bones of extinct animals, and fossil remains of aquatic parasitic fungi can be found on algae , fish scales, and on skeletal formations of invertebrates . The collected material allows us to restore the living conditions of organisms, and the study of Precambrian formations allows us to divide the sedimentary strata. Paleomicology data allow one to study the evolution of fungi and reconstruct the phylogeny of large taxa , however, due to the comparative scarcity of fossil material and the difficulty of accurately identifying taxonomic affiliations, fungal taxa were often ignored when constructing phylogenetic systems. There is also the possibility of taking fossil remains of algae, protists, or even trees as fossil mushrooms.