Genetic sequencing reveals vast fungal diversity hidden in plain sight

Beneath every forest floor lies a civilization older and stranger than our own, one we are only now learning to read. Mycologist Greg Thorn and his colleagues have found, through the lens of genetic sequencing, that the fungal world is vastly larger and more intricate than morphology alone could ever reveal — with an estimated two to three million species on Earth, fewer than a tenth of them named. The gap between what exists and what we have catalogued is not merely a scientific inconvenience; it is a reminder that the living world routinely exceeds the boundaries of human perception.