[1] Described in 2023 by Laura Selbmann and Lucia Muggia, this endolithic fungus is found exclusively in rock-inhabiting communities in continental Antarctica, particularly in Victoria Land.

Antarctolichenia onofrii is notable for its dimorphic growth, exhibiting both yeast-like and filamentous forms, and for its evolutionary position between non-lichenised and lichen-forming fungi.

The holotype is a cultured strain isolated from cryptoendolithically colonised sandstone collected in Helliwell Hills, Victoria Land, Antarctica.

The holotype is preserved in a metabolically inactive state at −150 °C (−238 °F) in the Mycotheca Universitatis Taurinensis (MUT), at the University of Turin in Italy.

[2] Antarctolichenia onofrii occasionally grows in association with Stichococcus-like algae, but does not form haustoria-like structures or a more organized lichen-like thallus.

Its distribution includes both southern and northern Victoria Land, with collected specimens ranging from the McMurdo Dry Valleys to the Helliwell Hills.

It is found in endolithic lichen-dominated communities, which represent the main form of microbial life in the extremely cold and hyper-arid desert environments of Antarctica.