First report of sporangia of a myxomycete (Physarum pusillum) on the body of a living animal, the lizard Corytophanes cristatus

Myxomycetes are protists whose life cycle depends on aerially dispersed spores that germinate into motile myxamoebae, which then pair and fuse to form a larger, motile plasmodium. The plasmodium seeks out a suitable fruiting site (usually atop vegetative material or detritus) and transforms into fruiting bodies that release the spores. In this paper we report the first known instance of a myxomycete, in this case Physarum pusillum, sporulating on the body of a living animal, the cryptic lizard Corytophanes cristatus, which was collected in eastern Honduras in 2003.