Shedding light on the thermal biology of fungi, research by Radamés Cordero et al. indicates that certain mushrooms (including Coprinellus micaceus and species from the genus Cantharellus) can achieve a hypothermic state through evaporative cooling. Effects of this thermoregulation were not limited to the fungi’s fruiting bodies and root-like hyphae: temperature reductions were observed in the air immediately surrounding the mushrooms. Though slight, the reductions inspired an air-cooling device; using approximately 400 grams of mushrooms, the team’s prototype lowered the air temperature in a controlled environment by 10°C in forty minutes.
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Verbal·Craft and Structure·Text Structure and Purpose
hardWhich choice best describes the function of the underlined portion in the text as a whole?
A
It establishes a finding central to the text’s discussion of a practical application resulting from the team’s study of fungal thermal biology.
B
It provides empirical evidence to bolster the claim made earlier in the text that certain fungal species maintain a hypothermic state.
C
It presents a tangential finding about thermoregulation in certain fungal species that the experiment described later in the text was designed to explain.
D
It identifies an unexpected observation that motivated the study of evaporative cooling in fungi that is discussed earlier in the text.