Peay, Bruns and Kennedy were busy researching Borneo’s Sarawak State when they came across this amazing sponge-like mushroom. They handed it over to Dennis E. Desjardin a mycologist at the San Fransisco State University. After examining the specimen under a microscope he realized that the genus of the specimen closely matched with the one he discovered in Thailand about two years ago. Thus the new genus was named for both the cases and he named it after spongebob squarepants.
An average mushroom contains of a cap and a stem. The cap helps in maintaining moisture and prevents it from drying out and the stem helps to lift it up from the ground so that it can be easily spread by the wind and animals passing by. This particular species has however found it's own means of survival. The sponge-like body allows it to remain moist by soaking in moisture from the atmosphere of the rainforest.
Dennis E. Desjardin had to convince the editors of the journal Mycologia to name the species Spongiforma Squarepentsii. He insisted that the name be accepted because he was the one who discovered it and had the full right to name it as he liked.
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