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Spotted Dog Lichen Fascinating upon fascinating - this lichen, which itself is a partnership between a fungus and an algae, also has colonies of bacteria (the small black spots) that extract nitrogen from the air that the lichen uses. My husband asks a good question - at what point do we stop looking at this as 3 separate organisms cooperating and see it as one? Geotagged,Peltigera aphthosa,United States Click/tap to enlarge PromotedSpecies introCountry intro

Spotted Dog Lichen

Fascinating upon fascinating - this lichen, which itself is a partnership between a fungus and an algae, also has colonies of bacteria (the small black spots) that extract nitrogen from the air that the lichen uses. My husband asks a good question - at what point do we stop looking at this as 3 separate organisms cooperating and see it as one?

    comments (1)

  1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
    Ferdy Christant
    Lion
    View Lion class
    That's a really good question that I cannot answer, as I'm not a biologist. It seems though that even science has trouble answering it. From what I understand, species were first identified and grouped by appearance and behavior. Later on this emerged in the ability to reproduce. However, that definition also had exceptions. And now we're in the DNA age and science still struggles. It seems life isn't easily boxed or defined. Posted 10 years ago

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The Spotted Dog Lichen

''Peltigera aphthosa'' is a species of lichen known by the common names green dog lichen, leafy lichen, felt lichen, and common freckle pelt. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring throughout the Arctic, boreal, and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

This lichen has a large thallus which may exceed one meter in width. It is divided into lobes up to about 10 centimeters long and 6 wide. It is green, becoming pale as it dries. The thallus is dotted with cephalodia, which.. more

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Similar species: Peltigerales
Species identified by morpheme
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By morpheme

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Uploaded Nov 9, 2014. Captured Nov 8, 2014 11:48 in Olympic National Forest, National Forest Development Road 2530, Washington, USA.
country flag of United States of America Explore United States of America 39,948 9,641 8
  • X-E1
  • f/6.4
  • 1/60s
  • ISO800
  • 164mm
Captured in the fall. More fall photos.

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