Scott and D.W. Malloch, who grew the fungus in moist chamber cultures of porcupine dung collected in Stoneleigh, Ontario, Canada.

[1] The genus has been classified in the Onygenaceae,[2] a fungal family characterized by species capable of digesting human hair in vitro, and with spores that are punctate (with minute surface punctures) when viewed with scanning electron microscopy.

The ascomata, which may be clustered together in groups or scattered about, grow in a shallow layer of "hairs" (actually fungal mycelia) called a tomentum.

Viewed with a light microscope their surfaces appear to be smooth, but under scanning electron microscopy, they are revealed to be densely marked with punctures and small, hard, sharp projections.

Porcupine dens accumulate thick layers of nutrient-rich dung, hair and urine that are degraded by a succession of fungi.

Both polytolypin and one of the previously identified compounds have "moderate" antifungal activity against the species Ascobolus furfuraceous, while polytopin alone can inhibit the growth of Candida albicans.