While some fungi rely on insects to disperse their spores and others rely on rain and wind, a few take matters into their own hands. Species of Pilobolus
, known as hat thrower fungi, grow on horse, cow, and sheep dung. Once the spores have matured inside the black sporangium, osmotically active compounds cause an eruption, a shotgun-like blast that sends the spores up to six feet into the air. (See a timelapse video of Pilobolus
"It's a remarkably sophisticated feat for a small, microscopic fungi," Stephenson says, adding: "I teach plant biology and ecology, and in those courses, we go out and get some dung and put it in culture dish and leave it out in a lab. Early the next morning, each individual fungus fires off its sporangium."