Paleomycology

[2] 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.

[3] Interest in fossilized fungi dates back to the early nineteenth century, with the first illustrated collection being curated by Luigi Meschinelli in 1898.

[3] 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.

A sample of amber from the Baltic site preserved a hexapod and the fungi Aspergillus collembolorum, which suggests the presence of parasitic relationships as early as 34 million years ago.

[3] Evidence of bioeroder fungi has been identified in carbonate substrates (such as in shells) in which organic carbon-containing matter was extracted, indicating the presence of a mutualistic or parasitic relationship between a fungus and host.