The Peltigeraceae are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Peltigerales Peltigerales is an order of lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. The taxonomy of the group has seen numerous changes; it was formerly often treated as a suborder of the order Lecanorales. It con ...

. The Peltigeraceae, which contains 15

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

and about 600 species, has recently (2018) been emended to include the families Lobariaceae and Nephromataceae. Many Peltigeraceae species have large and conspicuous, leathery

thalli Thallus (plural: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. Many of these organisms were ...

. They largely occur in cool-

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

climates. Tripartite thalli involving

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

green algae The green algae (singular: green alga) are a group consisting of the Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister which contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/Streptophyta. The land plants (Embryophytes) have emerged deep in the Charophyte alga as ...

and

cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, blu ...

are common in this family.

Taxonomy

The family Peltigeraceae was

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

by Belgian botanist

Barthélemy Charles Joseph Dumortier Barthélemy Charles Joseph Dumortier (; 3 April 1797 in Tournai – 9 July 1878) was a Belgian who conducted a parallel career of botanist and Member of Parliament. Biography Barthélemy Dumortier was a son of the merchant and city councillor Ba ...

in 1822. Using a temporal approach that uses time-calibrated

chronogram A chronogram is a sentence or inscription in which specific letters, interpreted as numerals (such as Roman numerals), stand for a particular date when rearranged. The word, meaning "time writing", derives from the Greek words ''chronos'' (χ� ...

s to identify and define temporal bands for comparable ordinal and

ranks in the Lecanoromycetes, the families Lobariaceae and Nephromataceae were synonymized with Peltigeraceae in 2018. In a later critical review of the use of this method for the biological classification of lichens,

Robert Lücking Robert Lücking (born 1964) is a German lichenologist. He is a leading expert on foliicolous lichens–lichens that live on leaves. Life and career Born in Ulm in 1964, Lücking earned both his master's (1990) and PhD degree (1994) at the Univ ...

considered this merge justified based on several characteristics shared by all three groups. These include "the leathery structure of their usually large and conspicuous thalli, apothecial morphology and anatomy, ascus and ascospore type, and the fact that tripartite thalli or photosymbiodemes involving green algae and cyanobacteria are common". The proposed synonymy was also accepted in a 2020 review of fungal classification. Since the two synonymized families have been widely used, and have been accepted previously as

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

ally distinct

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

s within older families, Lumbsch and Leavitt proposed the following

subfamilies In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

of Peltigeraceae, which "allows recognition of these well-established and monophyletic clades while avoiding confusion due to incomparable ranks of clades." :Lobarioideae :Nephromatoideae According to Lumbsch and Leavitt, Peltigeroideae becomes an

available name In zoological nomenclature, an available name is a scientific name for a taxon of animals that has been published conforming to all the mandatory provisions of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature for the establishment of a zoological ...

that could be used to include the Peltigeraceae

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

Genera

A 2020 estimate placed 15 genera and about 600 species in the Peltigeraceae, but two new

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genera have since been added to the family. * Lobarioideae :*''

Crocodia ''Crocodia'' is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Peltigeraceae. It has eight species. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, although most species occur in temperate and tropical regions of the Southern Hemisphere. The main character ...

'' – 5 spp. :*'' Dendriscosticta'' – 5 spp. :*''

Lobaria ''Lobaria'' is a genus of foliose lichens, formerly classified in the family (biology), family Lobariaceae, but now placed in the Peltigeraceae. They are commonly known as "lung wort" or "lungmoss" as their physical shape somewhat resembles a lu ...

'' – ca. 60 spp. :*'' Lobariella'' – 35 spp. :*'' Lobarina'' – 15 spp. :*'' Podostictina'' – 5 spp. :*''

Pseudocyphellaria ''Pseudocyphellaria'' is a genus of large, leafy lichens that are sometimes referred to as "specklebelly" lichens.Brodo, I. M., S. D. Sharnoff, and S. Sharnoff. 2001. ''Lichens of North America''. Yale University Press: New Haven. The genus has ...

'' – ca. 100 spp. :*'' Ricasolia'' – 15 spp. :*''

Sticta ''Sticta'' is a genus of lichens in the family Peltigeraceae. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in tropical areas, and includes about 114 species. These lichens have a leafy appearance, and are colored brown or black. ''Sticta'' ...

'' – ca. 200 spp. :*'' Yarrumia'' – 2 spp. :*'' Yoshimuriella'' – 8 spp. * Nephromatoideae :*''

Nephroma ''Nephroma'' is a genus of medium to large foliose lichens. The genus has a widespread distribution. They are sometimes called kidney lichens, named after the characteristic kidney-shaped apothecia that they produce on the lower surface of their ...

'' – ca. 36 spp. * Peltigeroideae :*'' Emmanuelia'' – 12 spp. :*''

Peltigera ''Peltigera'' is a genus of approximately 100 species of foliose lichens in the family Peltigeraceae. Commonly known as the dog or pelt lichens, species of ''Peltigera'' are often terricolous (growing on soil), but can also occur on moss, trees, ...

'' – ca. 100 spp. :*'' Sinuicella'' – 1 sp. :*'' Solorina'' – ca. 10 spp.

Uses

Many species of Peltigeraceae have been used in studies on

environmental pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

and have been utilized as

indicator species A bioindicator is any species (an indicator species) or group of species whose function, population, or status can reveal the qualitative status of the environment. The most common indicator species are animals. For example, copepods and other sma ...

for pollution,

woodland management Forest management is a branch of forestry concerned with overall administrative, legal, economic, and social aspects, as well as scientific and technical aspects, such as silviculture, protection, and forest regulation. This includes management for ...

, and ecological continuity.

Conservation

, Peltigeraceae species that have been assessed for the global

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

are all from the genus ''

'': '' S. deyana'' ( critically endangered, 2020); '' S. carolinensis'' ( vulnerable, 2020); '' S. alpinotropica'' (endangered, 2017); and '' S. fragilinata'' (endangered, 2020).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3374559 Peltigerales Lecanoromycetes families Lichen families Taxa described in 1822 Taxa named by Barthélemy Charles Joseph Dumortier