Society for Science & the Public, which publishes Science News, uses cookies to personalize your experience and improve our services. For more information on how we use cookies on our websites, visit our Cookie Policy.
Feature Life

The name of the fungus

Genetic advances spur mycologists to put their kingdom in order

DEFINING A KINGDOM  In the peculiar, shape-shifting world of fungi (Erysiphe guttata shown), a rebellion has broken out against the traditional way of naming species. 

L. R. AND C. TULASNE/SELECTA FUNGORUM CARPOLOGIA 1861

By Susan Milius

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Life

  1. Prometheoarchaeum syntrophicum
    Life

    Microbiologists took 12 years to grow a microbe tied to complex life’s origins

    By Jonathan Lambert
  2. Brazil soldiers meet plane of people from Wuhan, China
    Health & Medicine

    Coronavirus’s genetic fingerprints are used to rapidly map its spread

    By Laura Sanders
  3. Cope's vine snake
    Animals

    Snakes suffered after a frog-killing fungus wiped out their food

    By Jonathan Lambert
  4. an Upside-down jellyfish
    Animals

    Jellyfish snot can sting swimmers who never touch the animal

    By Erin Garcia de Jesus
  5. cat smizing
    Animals

    With a litter of tactics, scientists work to tame cat allergies

    By Erika Engelhaupt
  6. Mende people in Sierra Leone
    Humans

    Some West Africans may have genes from an ancient ‘ghost’ hominid

    By Bruce Bower
  7. Egyptian fruit bat hanging upside down
    Life

    Bats’ immune defenses may be why their viruses can be so deadly to people

    By Erin Garcia de Jesus
  8. adult wolf and pups
    Life

    Wolves regurgitate blueberries for their pups to eat

    By Jake Buehler

From the Nature Index

Paid Content