Fungus

[[image:stilton.jpg|thumb|right|165px|They're what's among us.]]
{{biology}}
{{cquote|It could be said that the identification of a mushroom employs every human sense except hearing, but that has not stopped me wishing that a particularly obscure species could tell me its name.|||Richard Fortey<ref>[https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03828-x Turning a scientific lens on the wonderful world of fungi: A mesmerizing global tour will make readers question what they think they know about mushrooms.] by Nicholas P. Money (25 November 2024) ''Nature''.</ref><ref>''Close Encounters of the Fungal Kind: In Pursuit of Remarkable Mushrooms'' by Richard Fortey (2024) William Collins. ISBN 000863968X.</ref>}}
'''Fungus''' (plural, '''fungi''') is one of the [[Linnaean taxonomy|kingdoms]] of [[life]]. The fungi, although traditionally included with [[plant]]s (as [[Richard Dawkins]] puts it, they "are rooted to the spot and don't walk away while you try to study them"),<ref>''The Ancestor's Tale'', p. 555</ref> turned out to be more closely related to the [[animal]]s. Fungi, having been around for over 500 million years, are extremely diverse and widespread, including molds (except {{wpl|Slime mold|slime molds|),}} mushrooms, toadstools, yeasts, and many other organisms.

==Role==
Fungi have many uses. In the environment, fungi feature as they decompose dead matter, by growing root-like hyphae (which form a dense mycelium), digesting their food on the '''outside''', and absorbing it. In food, fungi not only top pizzas but work in blue cheese, [[beer]], bread, [[soy]] sauce, and many other products. More importantly, however, fungi were the source of the first antibiotics, including penicillin, a mold product. Some fungi are [[toxin|toxic]], including some mushrooms. Some people take "advantage" of this with "[[psilocybin|magic mushrooms]]", a [[drug|hallucinogen]]. Worse, though, some fungi are even parasites on [[human]]s, causing diseases like athlete's foot (itchy foot) or vaginitis (itchy [[cunt|stuff]]).

Fungi do not, however, cause [[cancer]], despite what [http://cancerisafungus.com some people say].  A certain fungus that can live in your gut, named [[Candida]], is basically harmless but has been blamed for nearly all human ills by certain members of the [[alternative medicine]] community.

==Creationist's nightmare==
Fungi can be seen as the [[creationist]]'s nightmare, much like how the [[banana fallacy|banana]] or [[peanut butter argument|peanut butter]] is the [[atheist]]'s, only this one is actually ''good''. In [[Genesis]] 1, [[God]] is mentioned as [[Creation Week|creating]] plants and animals, with no mention at all of the world's other life forms. Also, fungi feed on [[death|dead]] remains, so before [[original sin]], fungi would have had nothing to eat. The only way around this really is for the creationist to claim that fungi appeared after the Fall, perhaps in some sort of [[baramin|super-evolution]] or something. Given how this would be one kingdom arising from another (plants or animals? take your pick), this seems to be life evolving "[[macroevolution|between kinds]]".

{{userboxtop| toptext=&nbsp;}} 
{{Clade 
| style= font-size:100%; line-height:100%
|    label1=''Unikonta''&nbsp;&nbsp;
|    1={{clade
|        1=''Amoebozoa''
|        label2=&nbsp;&nbsp;''Opisthokonta''&nbsp;&nbsp;
|        2={{clade
|        label1 =&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
|           1={{clade|label1=&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;|1=''Animalia''|2=''Choanozoa''}}
|           label3=&nbsp;&nbsp;'''''Fungi'''''&nbsp;&nbsp;
|           3={{clade
|              1=''Chytridiomycota''
|              2=''Blastocladiomycota''
|              3=''Neocallimastigomycota''
|              4=''Zygomycota''
|              5=''Glomeromycota''
|              label6=&nbsp;&nbsp;''Dikarya''&nbsp;&nbsp;
|              6={{clade
|                1=''Ascomycota''
|                2=''Basidiomycota''
               }}
              }}  
}}
}}  }}
{{userboxbottom}}

==See also==
*[[Taxonomy]]
*[[Evolution]]
*[[Species]]
*[[Cladistics]]

==External links==
*{{wpa|fungus}}
{{clear}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Fungi| ]]
[[Category:Organisms]]

Categories: Fungi, Organisms