Behind the veil – exploring the diversity in Phallus indusiatus s.l. (Phallomycetidae, Basidiomycota)

Abstract

Studies have demonstrated that many cosmopolitan species actually consist of divergent clades that present high levels of morphological stasis throughout their evolutionary histories.Phallus indusiatuss.l. has been described as a circum-tropical species. However, this distribution may actually reflect the lack of taxonomic resolution due to the small number of diagnostic morphological characters, which leads to the identification of new records as populations ofP. indusiatus. Here, we examine the diversity ofP. indusiatus-like species in Brazilian Amazonia. We show a clear congruence between detailed morphological data and ITS, nuc-LSU andatp6 based phylogenetic analyses and three new species are described within the Brazilian indusiate clade. These results highlight the importance of more detailed investigation, with the inclusion of molecular information, in Neotropical fungi.