Magic! ? Mushroom complete with
spores!
by Michelle Jennings
Once again, as well as information about our galaxy, solar system
and earth and moon, the circle makers seem to want us to ponder all
forms of life existing on Earth. We have had examples of the animal
kingdom, and the unicellular kingdom of prokaryotes. Now we are
presented with a beautiful member of the eukaryotic group of life
forms–those with nuclei in their cells and multi-cellular
complexity. There is some evidence that fungi existed 4 billion
years ago, and definite evidence for them 400 million years ago.
From:
http://tolweb.org/Fungi/2377
“As
the sister group of animals and part of the eukaryotic crown group
that radiated about a billion years ago, the fungi constitute an
independent group equal in rank to that of plants and animals. They
share with animals the ability to export hydrolytic enzymes that
break down biopolymers, which can be absorbed for nutrition. Rather
than requiring a stomach to accomplish digestion, fungi live in
their own food supply and simply grow into new food as the local
environment becomes nutrient-depleted.”
The
circle makers show us that they are up on our recent biological
explorations:
http://www.perspective.com/nature/fungi/
“The
Fungi
constitute a large and diverse group of organisms. Until the 1960s,
fungi were considered members of the
plant
kingdom. With the advent of the five-kingdom system of biological
classification, fungi were assembled into a single kingdom because
of their similar
ecological
roles as primary decomposers of organic matter and their similar
anatomical and biochemical features. Recent studies that compare the
sequence of amino acids in
proteins
from fungi, plants, and
animals
now indicate that fungi share a closer evolutionary relationship to
animals than to plants.”

Here is a good site for gathering the information humans have
gleaned regarding evolution of fungi and other living matter, and
the importance each have in terms of life on our beautiful planet:
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/events/eukevol.html