The Last of Us zombie fungus hijacked minds even as early as dinosaur era, scientists find
The Last of Us zombie fungus has been around since the dinosaurs
- A new study indicates the mind-controlling "zombie" fungus, Ophiocordyceps, which inspired video game and television show ‘The Last of US’ emerged about 133 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous period.
- Researchers identified two new fungal species, Paleoophiocordyceps gerontoformicae and Paleoophiocordyceps ironomyiae, preserved in 99-million-year-old amber from northern Myanmar.
- One of these species, P. gerontoformicae, was found with an infected ant pupa, displaying structural features consistent with modern Ophiocordyceps species.
- These fossil discoveries provide some of the oldest direct evidence of parasitic relationships between fungi and insects, predating previous estimates for the fungus's emergence.
- The findings suggest the fungal genus may have initially parasitised beetles before shifting to infect ants, offering new insights into the coevolution of fungi and their insect hosts.