Mycocaliciaceae

The Mycocaliciaceae are a family of fungi in the order Mycocaliciales, comprising seven genera and approximately 90 species. Originally proposed in 1970 by Alexander Schmidt, the family is characterised by immersed thalli, stalked brown or black ascomata (fruiting bodies), and small cylindrical asci that release without forming a . Molecular phylogenetic studies have placed Mycocaliciaceae within the class Eurotiomycetes and led to the inclusion of taxa formerly classified in the Sphinctrinaceae. The family has a fossil record dating back at least 50 million years, with several specimens discovered in Baltic and Bitterfeld amber. Mycocaliciaceae genera include Chaenothecopsis, Mycocalicium, and Phaeocalicium, which exhibit a range of ecological roles from saprobic to parasitic relationships with their .

==Taxonomy== Calicioid fungi are a heterogeneous assemblage of fungi sharing the presence of a , a structure in which loose masses of ascospores accumulate and which then are passively disseminated. Before 1970, the presence of a mazaedium was considered to be the defining trait of the order Caliciales, historically considered to be a monophyletic group. Mycocaliciaceae was circumscribed in 1970 by the lichenologist Alexander Schmidt. He showed that some of the genera that had been traditionally classified in the Caliciales had active spore dispersal rather than a mazaedium. He resurrected Chaenothecopsis, Mycocalicium and Strongyleuma, accepted Stenocybe and described the new genus Phaeocalicium. The Mycocaliciaceae and the Sphinctrinaceae are the families in the order Mycocaliciales, which was created in 2000 by Leif Tibell and Mats Weden. Mycocaliciaceae was shown in several studies to belong to the class Eurotiomycetes.