It's a slime mold.
Slime molds are legitimately interesting, but poo science disgusts me.
The three things I remember from a "Mold Seminar" long ago was that everything under the normal forest litter you crunch through is mold, that if you cut a colony of some molds (slime molds?) in half, they will try to rejoin over quite a distance, and that there are "artillery molds," which are known to shoot their spores a considerable distance.
So they really are interesting, but over time, most of the lecture by the well-known moldologist (mycologist?) has been forgotten.
That's it, that's all I know.... Oh, wait ! Fig Newtons were named after a town in Massachussetts, not the scientist.
https://youtu.be/mushpWHxxH8 (0:53)
Terry,