Years of sampling collection on the Hungarian steppe recently revealed four brand unexampled metal money of fungi , including one that scientist say bears a strike resemblance to an notorious sci - fi lusus naturae . Its worm - like dead body and sandy dwell stead lead the team to dub the new speciesTulostoma shaihuludii , after the Shai - Hulud sandworms that feature in Frank Herbert’sDunenovels and the movie adaptation .
All four of the new species go to the genusTulostoma , more ordinarily known by their decidedly non - threatening name of stalk puffballs . This moniker comes from the global fruiting bodies that they produce on the end of a stalk , from which their spores are released when disturbed by the wind or trample by an animal .
In the case ofT. shaihuludii , you’re able to look for why the investigator made the connection with Herbert’smonstrous worms – but you need n’t go as far asArrakisto ascertain such strange lifeforms .
You can see the resemblance.Image credit: Péter Finy; illustration by Dániel G. Knapp (CC BY 4.0)
The Brobdingnagian Pannonian steppe in southern Hungary , tightlipped to the borders with Romania and Serbia , is jazz to be a hot spot for stalked true puffball . The sandy soil peppered with grassy thickets provides the double-dyed home ground for gasteroidfungisuch as these , but condition can be knotty . The region sees little rainfall , and in summertime and autumn the sand temperatures can surge , soTulostomaspecies have had to evolve resiliency .
The designation , published in the journalMycoKeys , are base on samples collected in the field over 25 years .
“ In Hungary , so far 19 species have been memorialise , include the four new specie proposed in this study , ” the authors write , hinting that the soil is yet to reveal all its secrets : “ our ongoing studies designate the presence of many more undescribed species ofTulostomain Central Europe . ”
The worm-like wonder that isZygaspis quadrifrons.Image credit: Johan Marais
Along with the new finds , the squad ’s comprehensivetaxonomic researchis an of import addition to our reason of this radical of organism . Sadly , as the authors direct out , Tulostomaspecies are rare , with the majority being red - listed by theEuropean Council for the Conservation of Fungi . know the effective ways to protect them starts with learning as much as we can about their diversity and habitat .
Incredibly , T. shaihuludiiis not the only Shai - Hulud doppelganger to hail to lightness recently – and the other one has the teeth to boot .
Research 15 age in the making has led to new insights into the material body of the problematic Kalahari dwarf insect lizard ( Zygaspis quadrifrons).A species of amphisbaenian , these weeny dirt ball - similar critters live their lives under the covering fire of moxie and soil , so observing them has prove tricky .
The large nasal cavities and prominent central tooth stand out in this scan image.Image credit: scans courtesy of the Jackson School of Geosciences CT lab, coloring and rendering by Sam Houston State University
In one of two new written document on these beast inThe Anatomical Record , University of Texas at Austin investigator Christopher J. Bell and colleagues describe the micro - CT CAT scan they performed on 15 amphisbaenian specimens , culminate in a model of every cranial anatomic feature ofZ. quadrifrons .
" You could fit three skulls of theZygaspis quadrifronson the nail of my pinky . We can now look at these really pocket-sized craniate organisms in a measure of item that we never had before , " Bell said in astatement .
Thesecond paperrevealed another rummy characteristic of the amphisbaenian skull . Like many reptiles , they ’re hold with an ballock tooth that lets them break out of their shell . These are usually irregular , but inZ. quadrifrons , they stick around .
erupt puffball fungi and legless lounge lizard with a penchant for hide - and - go - seek : who know what other mythical monsters could be lurking justbeneath the sand ?
An early interlingual rendition of this article was published inDecember 2023 .
