Spaasiliomycota

Spaasiliomycota is an extinct subclass of fungi belonging to the family Blastocladiomycetes. It is primarily known from fossilized remains discovered in lake sediment cores from the California coast. The discovery was made through a process called sediment coring, where sediment samples are collected from the bottom of a lake or ocean.

Although the exact age of Spaasiliomycota fossils is not precisely determined, it is estimated to be from the Neogene epoch, which began approximately 23 million years ago and ended about 2.6 million years ago. Fossil evidence suggests that Spaasiliomycota exhibits a range of morphologies and cell structures, which can be difficult to categorize accurately.

Spaasiliomycota fossils have been found in low oxygen, relatively warm environments with limited vegetation, suggesting adaptations to these specific ecological conditions. Blastocladiomycetes, the family to which Spaasiliomycota belongs, exhibit similar morphologies in contemporary species. Therefore, it has been proposed that some features of contemporary Blastocladiomycetes might reflect adaptations to similar environments.

The function of Spaasiliomycota in its ecosystem is not well understood. However, similarities between contemporary members of Blastocladiomycetes and fungal decomposers indicate that Spaasiliomycota may have played a role in ecological processes during its time.

Spaasiliomycota represents one of the many fossil examples of fungi for which ecology and evolutionary relationships are difficult to determine. Further research, particularly through paleoecological and phylogenetic studies, is needed to refine our understanding of this extinct organism.