Newly Discovered Mushrooms Resemble Little People

Posted on April 15, 2015

These newly resembled mushrooms resemble little people as they arm and head like features. The fungi were discovered in Cockley Cley, Norfolk. It was first spotted in 2000 and was initially dismissed as a new species. It has now been identified as a new species, Geastrum britannicum, in a research paper.

The Mirror says the mushrooms look like "real fun guys." The newspaper interviewed Jonathan Revett, the man who first discovered the mushrooms. He is a member of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalist's Society. Revett says, "It's really strange how their shape makes them look like they have a head and arms. That's what drew my attention to them."

The Telegraph reports that some think the mushrooms resemble fisherman. The Telegraph also says the mushrooms are inedible.

Spanish mycologists used morphological, molecular, ecological, and chorological data to identify the new species. A research paper on the fungi was published here in the journal, Persoonia - Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Fungi. The PDF version of the paper contains more images of Geastrum britannicum.

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