a genus of fungi in order Onygenales (phylum Ascomycota, kingdom Fungi) that infects the skin, hair, and nails of humans and other animals. It is one of several causes of athlete's foot, jockstrap itch, and other ringworm (q.v.) infections in people. T. verrucosum causes ringworm in cattle. Although worldwide in distribution, some species apparently are more abundant in some areas than in others. T. schoenleini, for example, is the cause of a human skin infection in the Mediterranean, and T. rubrum causes a similar disease in the tropics.