paleomycology

Paleomycology is the study of fossil fungi. Paleomycology is considered a subdiscipline of paleobotany, centered on mushrooms, fungal spores, and hyphae preserved in sediment layers and rock. Fungi have been found in the palaeoecological record as far back as the Paleozoic era, with evidence of influencing the evolutionary processes of early flowering plants.

== History == thumb|Gilled mushroom (Coprinites dominicana|Coprinites dominicana) preserved in amber Interest in fossilized fungi dates back to the early nineteenth century, with the first illustrated collection being curated by Luigi Meschinelli in 1898. It focussed on matching fossils to modern fungi. Historically, however, paleoecologists tend to place a larger focus on plant and animal macrofossils, partially due to the difficulty and unfamiliarity in identifying fungi physiology and morphology.