Agaricomycotina

The Agaricomycotina is a subphylum of fungi within the class Agaricomycetes, which belongs to the phylum Basidiomycota. This group is incredibly diverse, encompassing approximately 30 families, 350 genera, and around 10,000 species. Traditionally, these fungi were identified by the presence of gills and mushroom-shaped fruiting bodies. However, modern classification, based on genetic relationships, recognizes that not all Agaricomycotina have gills, and their fruiting bodies can vary in shape. The oldest known fossil of this group, Gondwanagaricites magnificus, dates back approximately 125 million years. Some well-known families within Agaricomycotina include Agaricaceae, which contains edible mushrooms like the meadow mushroom, and Amanitaceae, which includes deadly species such as the death cap.1