Pilobolus crystallinus 1b

Pilobolus is a very unusual fungus found on animal dung. To get into the next batch of dung, it needs to get its spores away from the poop and onto grass where a hungry herbivore might accidentally eat it. So it cleverly shoots its black cap full of spores many centimeters away. The stalks are phototropic and aim towards the sun to maximize the distance the spores travel from their dung pile. This is a 21 hour time lapse movie of Pilobolus crystallinus, also known as the “dung cannon“ or “hat thrower.“ Imag