Evidence of mycoparasitism and hypermycoparasitism in Early Cretaceous amber

Evidence of mycoparasitism and hypermycoparasitism is demonstrated in Early Cretaceous Burmese amber. The agaric, Palaeocigaracites antiquus gen. sp. nov., is parasitized by the mycoparasite, Mycetophagites atrebora gen. sp. nov., which in turn is parasitized by the hyperparasite, Entropezites patricii gen. sp. nov. This discovery shows that sophisticated patterns of fungal parasitism were well developed some 100 Myrago. (C) 2007 The British Mycological Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.