Abstract:

Aims: The compilation of authoritative biodiversity catalogs is of great significance for biodiversity research, resource protection, as well as social and economic development. In the era of rapid development and progress on scientific research, a large number of new species and new distribution records are reported every year. It is very important to summarize the discoveries of new taxa and update the species checklist in time. 

Method: The taxonomic data of newly published fungal names were retrieved and analyzed from the Fungal Names nomenclatural repository. 

Results: In 2024, 2,106 scholars have published 5,500 new fungal names all over the world, including 3 new subphylum, 17 new classes and new subclasses, 9 new orders and suborcders, 37 new families and subfamilies, 280 new genera and subgenera, 3,716 new species and intraspecific taxa, 1,094 new combinations, 37 replacement names and 307 other new names. These new names belonged to 3 kingdoms, 16 phyla, 49 classes, 183 orders, 494 families and 1,429 genera, among which agaricomycetes and wood-inhabiting fungi have received more attentions. The newly published 3,681 fungal species were discovered from 107 countries and regions in the world. East and south Asia were the hottest spots of new species discovery, while China retained the top country for yearly new species discoveries, accounting for 48.85% of the world's total. Besides, Chinese scholars led the world in research outputs on fungal taxonomy this year. There are 635 Chinese scholars participated in the publications of 2,686 new fungal names, contributing nearly half of the world’s total. 

Conclusion: After a slight decline in 2023, the number of globally published new fungal names has rebounded to 5,500 last year, which is the highest number in history. Since 2021, the number of new names published by Chinese scholars, and the contribution ratio to the world have broken the historically record for consecutive three years.

Key words: taxonomy of fungi, name author, new taxa, type locality, fungal diversity