Unreal Amber Fossils Show ‘Last of Us’ Zombie Fungus Terrorizing Bugs During the Cretaceous

In the video game The last and his spin-off HBO series, people fight against cordyceps against a parasitic mushrooms Converts their hosts to zombies. Although infections are wildly in the game and the brutal tramatic in the show, These mushrooms are not just fiction. In fact, some species offer a new research since the age of dinosaurs.

Dr. Yuhui Zhuang, a group of doctorals of Paleontology in China University, has recently found two cordeyseps compressed in 99 million years of amber. Fosilized flight and ant Pupa, the oldest residual record of animal-pathogens, Burning returned. In addition, these insects have been infected with two types of fungi not known before, and now called Paleoophiocordyceps gerontoformrica and Paleoophiocordyceps irononsiae. Researchers have published findings in the magazine Royal Society’s proceedings b June 11th.

“In general, these two fossil are very rare, at least there are very rare amber between tens of thousands of amber samples, and only a few people have protected symbiotic relations between fungi and insects” Zhuang tell CNN.

Amber came from the north of Myanmar suffering Severe confrontation since 2017, due to a boom in fossil amber research. The study notes that the used authors were purchased before 2017 and did not have the knowledge of any conflict.

Zhuang and his colleagues, used optical microscopes to explore the chapters, then settle 3D images using a Rent Ray Viewing Technique called Micro-Scored Tomography. This revealed the surprising aspects of insect infections.

Researchers determined that both newly discovered corks belongs OphiocordycepsAt the same time, zombie-ant covers a type known as mushrooms. The name comes from the ability to manage the behavior of the hostility. In the final stage of the infection, the fungus seizes control of the brain of beetle and is looking for a higher place with more sunlight and hot-optimal conditions for SPORE production. A fungal growth after insect dead erupt It starts to release spores to infect from the beginning and new victims.

Fosilized flight was in this case, protected with fruity body P. irlonyiae to explode from the head. Unlike the typical late stage Ophiocordyceps a fruitful body producing a fruitful body generally with a smooth, swollen tip, P. irlonyiae‘s fruity body was announced and was textured. Ant pupa, infected P. Gerontoformricaewas even more unusual. Instead of emerging from the head of the pupa, the mushroom erupted from the metallural gland that produces antimicrobial secretions. This has never been observed among any known species OphiocordycepsThe researchers celebrate. These differences, probably pointed out that they look at two types of never greedy.

When they compare the structures of these fungi and when the growth samples are known Ophiocordyceps Types, researchers found clear signs that associate them with this sex, but they could not match any documentary. They used the modern from DNA Ophiocordyceps Phylogeny – The evolutionary history of the gender – the principal of the relatives of the newly discovered species – visual representation.

Analysis caused a deeper understanding Ophiocordyceps‘History, it has occurred in the early early period and has begun to start infectious insects. Then the bees and ants, including bees and ants, including bees and ants, including butterflies and other insects. The abundance of booming diversity and defamation insect insect, probably drove the quick emergence of new Ophiocordyceps during Bretaceous.

Together, the date of evolution of the evolution of the evolution of the parasitory is difficult due to the lack of ancient examples Museum of Natural History of LondonOne of the institutions that helped investigations. “Today, it was interesting to see some oddities of the natural world, and today he also had a height of the age of dinosaurs,” he said, the author Edmund Mzembowski, a partner scientist in the museum Mzhembowski. Discovery, this highly adapted mushroom presents an unique idea to the rise of pathogens.