Era of Dinosaurs: 115-million-year-old mushroom fossil discovered in Brazil

There is always something new to explore when it comes comes to science and this the reason that Scientist don't stop exporing and discovering new things or get some information about anything.

This time scientists have discovered a rare 115-million-year-old mushroom fossil that sprouted during the era of the dinosaurs, the oldest such specimen found by far.

After studying the fossil closely under an electron microscope, scientists found that the ancient mushroom had gills under its cap as well as spores, which help identify fungus species, said Sam Heads, a paleontologist with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who co-authored the study in the June 7 issue of the journal PLOS One.

The scientists called the specimen "Gondwanagaricites magnificus" in a nod to its place of origin."The fact that this mushroom was preserved at all is just astonishing," he said. "Most mushrooms grow and are gone within a few days."

Mushrooms´ soft, fragile structures decay rapidly, making the chances of fossilization extremely low, he said.

Fungi evolved before land plants and are responsible for their transition from an aquatic environment, the scientists said.

When "Gondwanagaricites magnificus" were growing, the very first flowering plants were appearing, undergoing major evolution, Heads said.

"There were dinosaurs stomping around, pterosaurs flying around in the sky -- lots of different fauna."