I poked around and looked at a couple samples growing locally and it dawned on me how difficult it is to differentiate between types of lichens, but wow what an interesting discovery. Was surprised to see this topic fade into obscurity, but I guess folks don't generally lichen new things. The surface of the earth is pretty much carpeted with the stuff though, just be mindful if you go collecting samples to ID, some of these take centuries to grow to any size and some of them are pretty toxic.
In the case of Iceland's mystery active lichen, if it's Cetraria islandica or similar in appearance, it could be easily mistaken for moss and overlooked.
Edit:
Customs Agent: Do you have anything to declare?
Twitchy: Just this rotten log from Ecuador.
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