Common Porecrust vs Eurasian beaver

Schizophyllum commune compared with Castor fiber

Key Differences

Common Porecrust is Least Concern while Eurasian beaver is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Porecrust	Eurasian beaver
Kingdom	Fungi (грибы)	Animalia (животные)
Phylum	Basidiomycota (базидиомицеты)	Chordata (хордовые)
Class	Agaricomycetes (агарикомицеты)	Mammalia (млекопитающие)
Order	Agaricales (агариковые)	Rodentia (грызуны)
Family	Schizophyllaceae	Castoridae (Beavers)
Genus	Schizophyllum	Castor (Beavers)
Species	Schizophyllum commune	Castor fiber

Conservation Status

Common Porecrust

LC — Least Concern

Eurasian beaver

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Porecrust	Eurasian beaver
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Porecrust

Habitat

Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (4 countries), Asia (Taiwan), Europe (5 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Brazil).

Eurasian beaver

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Found across Europe (6 countries). Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Common Porecrust

The Common Porecrust, <em>Schizophyllum commune</em>, is one of the most widely distributed fungi on Earth, belonging to the family Schizophyllaceae within the order Agaricales. It is a wood-decay bracket fungus found on dead and dying hardwood trees, logs, and stumps across virtually every vegetated continent, including Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The species is readily identified by its small, fan-shaped to lobed, hairy gray-white fruiting bodies and its distinctive split gill-like structures on the underside, which give it the common name split-gill fungus. <em>Schizophyllum commune</em> typically fruits year-round in humid conditions and is capable of surviving extreme desiccation, reviving when moisture returns. It plays an important ecological role as a saprotrophic decomposer of lignocellulosic material, contributing to nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems. The species is also notable as an opportunistic pathogen in immunocompromised humans, occasionally causing pulmonary or sinus infections. It is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List owing to its vast range and abundance. Biological traits such as average lifespan, body size, and specific dietary preferences remain poorly documented for this species.

Eurasian beaver

Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) is classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List. Facing a high risk of endangerment in the wild, with declining populations and increasing habitat pressure.