In 2017, Divakar and colleagues used a then-recently developed "temporal phylogenetic" approach to identify temporal bands for specific taxonomic ranks in the family Parmeliaceae, suggesting that groups of species that diverged within the time window of 29.45–32.55 million years ago represent genera. They proposed to synonymizeRaesaenenia with Protousnea, because Raesaenenia originated relatively recently and fell under the timeframe threshold for genus level.[3] This synonymy was not accepted by Robert Lücking in a later critical analysis of this technique for lichen systematics, who noted that "if taxonomy and classification are to reflect evolutionary history, then merging them into a single genus just because of the point in time they diverged is certainly not justified".[4]
Description
Raesaenenia is characterized by having an ascus structurally similar to those of genus Phacopsis, but with somewhat cylindrical ascospores that have thickened caps of wall tissue at each end.[1]Raesaenenia huuskonenii grows on Bryoria species in the Northern Hemisphere.[5][6][1] Infection by the fungus results in blackened branches that are geniculately deformed (i.e., bent at a sharp angle).[7]
^Räsänen, Veli (1948). Lichenotheca Fennica. Vol. 19–21.
^Divakar, Pradeep K.; Crespo, Ana; Kraichak, Ekaphan; Leavitt, Steven D.; Singh, Garima; Schmitt, Imke; Lumbsch, H. Thorsten (2017). "Using a temporal phylogenetic method to harmonize family- and genus-level classification in the largest clade of lichen-forming fungi". Fungal Diversity. 84: 101–117. doi:10.1007/s13225-017-0379-z. S2CID40674310.
^Lücking, Robert (2019). "Stop the abuse of time! Strict temporal banding is not the future of rank-based classifications in Fungi (including lichens) and other organisms". Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences. 38 (3): 199–253. doi:10.1080/07352689.2019.1650517. S2CID202859785.
^Triebel, Dagmar; Rambold, Gerhard; Elix, John A. (1995). "A conspectus of the genus Phacopsis (Lecanorales)". The Bryologist. 98 (1): 71–83. doi:10.2307/3243643. JSTOR3243643.