These amazing organisms know how to find exits from mazes, solve puzzles and learn.
Four new mushroom-like organisms were discovered for the first time in Russia, on the territory of the Land of the Leopard National Park in the Primorsky Territory.
Myxomycetes, namely, they were discovered in Primorye by scientists of the Moscow State University named after M. V. Lomonosov, - creatures related to soil amoebas. They reproduce almost like mushrooms - by spores, therefore they are called mushroom-like organisms. Moreover, these mushrooms, if I may say so, can move, in fact, "walk". They stand at the boundary between the plant and animal kingdoms, in connection with which they are sometimes called "animal mushrooms".
This is what these walking animal mushrooms look like.
It all started with the fact that mycology specialists collected various samples in Primorye on the territory of the national park for analysis: tree bark, shrubs and lianas. Then, in the laboratory, they examined the resulting material. On one of the specimens of lianas, walking animal mushrooms were found.
In total, the researchers managed to identify four species of myxomycetes that had not previously been found on the territory of Russia. One of them, Stemonaria rufipes (Red-footed Stemonaria), turned out to be especially rare: previously it was found only in Japan and Costa Rica.
Collected samples of the bark of trees, lianas and shrubs, on which amazing organisms were found.
Scientists were seriously interested in these findings. Although animal mushrooms do not have a brain or sense organs, they can slowly crawl in search of food, "walk", constantly changing their shape. What's more, these amazing organisms know how to find exits from mazes, solve puzzles and learn.
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- The nature of the south of Primorsky Territory is well suited for research on the species diversity of myxomycetes, - said the master student of the Faculty of Biology of the Moscow State University named after M. V. Lomonosov Fyodor Bortnikov. - This is a real center of biodiversity, an area not affected by the last glaciation.
It is planned to fully complete the processing of the collected materials in 2019. It is possible that Moscow mycologists will discover some more amazing organisms that amaze scientists.
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The Land of the Leopard is two adjacent specially protected natural areas: the Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve, established in 1916, and the Land of the Leopard National Park. Here, in the cedar-deciduous kingdom, the population of the Far Eastern leopard and the Amur tiger is carefully guarded.
VASILY POLIKARPOV