The actor Leonardo DiCaprio celebrated the discovery of a fungus endemic to Chile that had been missing for more than 40 years. The species was found for the first time in 1982, but was not seen again until now, as announced by the Fungi Foundation.
The discovery is of utmost importance for biodiversity, experts commented that a documentary that premiered on YouTube on Wednesday, since they help proliferate wild flora. Furthermore, only less than 10% of the world’s fungi are known.
Given such a discovery, The American actor shared images of the species along with some wordsalso highlighting the Chilean filmmaker who directed the documentary that details how the Austroomphaliaster nahuelbutensis.
Leonardo DiCaprio shared discovery of mushroom rediscovered in Chile
“The ‘Gran Puma’ mushrooms They are a mysterious species of mushrooms that live underground in the Nahuelbuta Mountains, in Chile. Expedition team members even think that these fungi may only be visible above ground for a few days a year,” he wrote.
Likewise, he invited to watch the documentary and mentioned “Catalina Infante, who captured the wonder of the expeditionas well as the moment the team found the Gran Puma mushrooms with the local community.”
In the post, DiCaprio says that the mushroom was missing for 36 years, as it was officially described in 1988, but was actually discovered 6 years earlier.
The person who found the fungus for the first time was the mycologist Norberto Garrido, who He called it Gran Puma because he found it in the Nahuelbuta mountain range, which means “the great mountain range of the puma.” in Mapudungún.
This is not the first time that Leonardo DiCaprio mentions Chile, Before he also referred to other endangered species, the most recent the huemulwhen last February he showed his support for an initiative to protect the national animal.
