Adaptation

Adaptations are features and behaviors that have been selected for, and favored through evolution.  They usually assist in the competition over nutrient acquisition, reproduction, defense and survival in general.  For example, cheetahs developed speed for more effective hunting.

Fungi were historically classified under the Kingdom Plantae  because of their immobility, somewhat similar morphological traits, and growth habits.  However upon closer inspection, it was discovered that fungi are more similar to animals than plants! This might seem odd at first, but the adaptations that fungi have developed, in regards to nutrient acquisition and structural material, are more comparable to many animals than plants.  First off, fungi, along with animals, are heterotrophic (other feeder), whereas most plants conduct photosynthesis and are autotrophic (self feeder). By developing the ability to use organic material for nutrients and energy, fungi were liberated of the tie to sunlight and carbon dioxide, ultimately allowing the exploitation of new untouched habitats and niches, like underground and inside hollow trees.  The evolution of hyphae was extremely vital in their heterotrophic lifestyle, to learn more about hyphae, read the nutrition section.  Secondly, mushrooms produce chitin as a means of support, along with most arthropods like spiders, and insects, and crustaceans.  Conversely, plants produce cellulose as their means of support.  Both have similar molecular structures, chitin on the left, and cellulose on the right, and were vital in the classification of fungi and other organisms. 

Another unique adaptation of Coprinopsis atramentaria is the ability to deliquesce (click to learn more) through the rare characteristic of auto-digestion, also known as going inky.

Now that you're learning a little more about this mushroom, it's about time to figure out how it feeds, click here.