Have you ever eaten a mushroom pizza? If so, you’ve tasted a fungus—a strange, spongy life-form that’s neither an animal nor a plant. Mushrooms, mold, and yeast are some of the most well-known types of fungi. But there are millions of species, from single microscopic cells to tangled masses as big as whole towns!
Though they can sometimes look like plants, fungi are more closely related to animals, explains Sydney Glassman, an ecologist who studies fungi at the University of California, Riverside. Many have a dirty but important job for the environment. When plants and animals die, fungi move in to break them down and recycle their nutrients. “If fungi didn’t exist, you’d be up to your ears in dead stuff,” says Glassman.
Have you ever eaten a mushroom pizza? If so, you’ve tasted a fungus. This strange, spongy life-form is neither an animal nor a plant. Mushrooms, mold, and yeast are all types of fungi. There are millions of species in total. Some are single cells invisible to the naked eye. Others are giant masses as big as whole towns!
Fungi can sometimes look like plants. But they’re more closely related to animals, explains Sydney Glassman. She’s an ecologist who studies fungi at the University of California, Riverside. Many fungi have a dirty but important job, she says. When plants and animals die, fungi break them down. This recycles the nutrients in their bodies. “If fungi didn’t exist, you’d be up to your ears in dead stuff,” says Glassman.