On Christmas Eve, Lois Martin decided to take Monza, her Lagotto Romagnolo, an Italian truffle dog, on a truffle-hunting trip after running some errands. It’s something Martin and Monza have done for nearly 12 years.
Martin, a Tennessee-based dog trainer, wanted to build on Monza’s scent-tracking skills in an urban environment, not just in forests. So, she took the dog to a local park to hunt for the prized delicacy, but she says Monza didn’t find anything.
“And we started to walk back towards the car, and she stopped,” Martin said. “She just stopped, and she was visibly, it was brief, but visibly excited. It was sort of a little 'whoo.'"
Over the years Monza has been able to find various types of truffle species, but this was the first time her dog had discovered something unexpected.
“When things are covered with dirt in the field, you can't quite see what you have until you get it home and clean it,” Martin said. “When I cleaned it, I realized it was black and warty on the outside, and it was larger than the genus that we had found before.”
She sent samples to fungus experts at the University of Florida and Michigan State University’s Gregory Bonito, an associate professor in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences.
Bonito said through DNA sequencing and phylogenetics, the scientists determined that what Monza had found in that Tennessee park was a new species of North American truffle.
“It falls out in a pretty distinctive clade of truffles known around the world,” he said. “In the Northern Hemisphere, there's only one other species in that group in North America, Tuber canaliculatum, and this one is similar.”
MSU undergraduate student Alassane Sow also helped with the identification process.
Bonito says Monza’s find is a testament to the diversity of truffle species in North America and how they can be found almost anywhere. One student, he says, found a new truffle species in his backyard.
“We don't know everything... in our environment, in our state and our nation,” Bonito said. “There's a lot to be learned; we’re learning more all the time.”
In honor of Monza and other hunters like her, the newly identified species was named Tuber canirevelatum, meaning “dog-found’ truffle.
“I am just so grateful for the encouragement and gratitude from the researchers,” Martin said. “Whenever I send them anything, and when I see them at the North American Truffle Growers conference, they're always so happy and so grateful and encouraging.”
Martin adds she hopes the recognition also sends a message to the culinary world about the perks of purchasing dog-found truffles, as she notes they are usually riper—and more flavorful—than raked truffles.
Another canine, this one in Kentucky, also recently uncovered a new truffle species, called the Tuber cumberlandense, named after the Cumberland Plateau where it was found. Bonito’s team and colleagues at the University of Florida helped identify this truffle as well.
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified the state where the Tuber cumberlandense was found.
