• Flumpkin
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    4 months ago

    So I guess the advantage is that they can produce tons of “genetic” variations very quickly and adapt to new environments within one generation?

    • hglman@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Correct, the downside is lots of nonviable offspring. I would guess the fungus needs to be able to colonize widely without sexual reproduction as well in order to take advantage of that rapid adaptation.

      • niktemadur@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Fascinating, I feel like I just caught a good glimpse of how fungus paved the way for the rest of life on Earth - wherever plant and animal life arrive, the fungus got there first.