RESINICOLOUS FUNGI IN COALS: EXAMPLES FROM MESOZOIC AND CENOZOIC COALS

Fungus can be incorporated into resin in coal, or, in maceral nomenclature, funginite in resinite, in a number of different ways: (1) if the fungus was entering a wound in the tree, the release of a resin can encapsulate the fungus; (2) fungus can be a parasite of insects trapped in resin or can be deliberately planted by insects for later harvesting; or (3) resinicolous fungi can use resin as a food source.

In a series of funginite from Cretaceous and Tertiary coals, no evidence of a direct insect association was observed, although fungi planted by insects cannot be ruled out. Similarly, in some cases, fungi encapsulated by resin as a defensive mechanism could have been a means of inclusion of fungus in resin. For many of the funginite/resinite occurrences, the extension of fungal hyphae into the resin and the lack of compression of the fungus suggest a resinicolous habit. Many of the fungal forms resemble modern Cladosporium species.