Cybebe was described as a monotypic genus in the Coniocybaceae distinguished from Chaenotheca by its unusual ascus ontogeny and its unpigmented spore wall. In a molecular phylogeny based on maximum parsimony analyses of their ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDXA sequences, specimens of Cybebe gracilenta formed a strongly supported group with Chaenotheca gracillima. Thisgroup in turn is also well supported as a part of Chaenotheca indicating that the features characteristic of Cybebe are indeed autapomorphic and that Cybebe gracilenta should be included in Chaenotheca.

The early development of Hypogymnia physodes from soredia to the formation of stratified lobes has been studied experimentally in the vicinity of a copper-smelting plant in theMiddle Urals. SEM investigations combined with life table analyses of early developmental stages revealed decreases in soredial survival and developmental rate in polluted localities. Non-stricatified pre-thallus stages without an epicortex were tolerant to toxic impact and were able to survive even in the zone with the highest pollution (lichen desert zone). The sensitivity of developmental stagesancreased after stratified lobes had developed.

Radial 14C/C profiles across three individuals of the crustose lichen Rhizocarpon geographicum (L.) DC. have been determined using accelerator mass spectrometry. These data were used to assess whether lifespan estimates can be determined in this species using 14C/C isotope ratio measurements. 14C/C profiles are relatively flat with Δ14C values (deviations from the modern radiocarbon standard) for the radial samples displaying a small spread ranging from 130 to 200 per mil. The data are consistent with carbon cycling based on growth patterns involving replacement and fusion of areoles within the thallus as well as or instead of cellular or molecular replacement. Consequently, lifespan estimates cannot be obtained from 14C/C measurements of this species and the Δ14C profiles provide no insights into whether the relationship between size and age is linear or curvilinear in this species.