Mortierellaceae [SEP] parent taxon
Mortierellaceae
The Mortierellaceae are a family of fungi in the order Mortierellales. The family contains six genera and 93 species.
Taxonomic history.
Many genera have been included in this family. According to Fitzpatrick, the family contained "Mortierella", "Herpocladium", "Dissophora", and "Haplosporangium". Later, "Herpocladium" was removed and "Aquamortierella" added. Another genus, "Echinosporangium", was later added. Currently, the family contains "Mortierella", which may be paraphyletic compared to
Taxon in disguise
In bacteriology, a taxon in disguise is a species, genus or higher unit of biological classification whose evolutionary history reveals has evolved from another unit of similar or lower rank, making the parent unit paraphyletic. This happens when rapid evolution makes a new species appear radically different from the ancestral group, so that it is not (initially) recognised as belonging to the parent phylogenetic group, leaving the latter an evolutionary grade.
While the term is from bacteriology, parallel examples are found throughout the tree of