All About 'D-rex', The Massive Prehistoric Fungus Uncovered In China's Forests

Researchers have found a striking new giant fungus deep within the forests of Yunnan, China. It looks like something straight out of a prehistoric world. Formally named Dianjunus rex, it produces vertical fruiting bodies up to 50 cm high and weighing up to 2.2 kg, which is the largest known within the phylum Ascomycota.

The fungus stands out because of its sheer size. It produces the largest fruiting bodies ever recorded within its group, a massive phylum of fungi known as Ascomycota.

Genetic analysis reveals that its unique lineage stretches back roughly 65 million years, putting its origins right around the time the dinosaurs went extinct.

The researchers affectionately nicknamed it "D-rex".

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"This remarkable species represents a new fungal family, Dianjunaceae, and provides a rare window into the evolution of extreme fungal body forms," Dr Indunil C Senanayake, an associate professor at the Germplasm Bank of Wild Species of the Kunming Institute of Botany in China, said in the press release.

"The discovery illustrates how much fungus biodiversity remains to be discovered in East Asian forests."

Dr Senanayake is also the corresponding author of the new study, published in Frontiers in Fungal Biology.

Scientists didn't just classify it as a new species or genus; they established an entirely new family for it, called Dianjunaceae, because of its unique features and distinct genetic makeup.

Photo Credit: Song, Yan, Pérez-Moreno, Zhang, Yang, Xie, Su, Liu, Wang, Liu, Yang, Yang, Liu, Shi, Wan, Cheewangkoon, Dai, Senanayake and Yu

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According to the researchers, the timing of the family's emergence, right after the major extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous period, offers a fascinating look into how life adapted and bounced back in ancient ecosystems.

"This timing raises an intriguing possibility. After the mass extinction, forests experienced dramatic changes, including the sudden availability of large amounts of dead plant material," said Senanayake.

"For wood-associated decomposing fungi, such environmental disruption may have created new ecological opportunities."

Experts say the discovery highlights how much of the natural world remains hidden, particularly in rich biodiversity hotspots like southwestern China.