Breathtaking Amber Fossils Reveal ‘Last of Us’-Inspired Zombie Fungus Devouring Bugs in the Cretaceous Era

In the video game The Last of Us and its HBO series, humans battle against a parasitic fungus called cordyceps, which transforms infected individuals into zombie-like creatures. While this concept is quite dramatic, it has roots in reality. In fact, some of these fungi have existed since the age of dinosaurs.

Recently, researchers, led by Yuhui Zhuang from Yunnan University in China, made an exciting discovery. They found two cordyceps-infected insects preserved in 99-million-year-old amber. These ancient specimens—a fly and an ant pupa—are some of the oldest evidence of fungi that harm animals. The fungi in question were previously unknown and have been named Paleoophiocordyceps gerontoformicae and Paleoophiocordyceps ironomyiae. This research was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Zhuang mentioned that such fossils are incredibly rare. These particular specimens were collected before 2017, a time when conflict in Myanmar related to fossil amber research intensified.

Using advanced imaging techniques, Zhuang and his team explored the fossils in detail. They found that both fungal species belong to the Ophiocordyceps genus, which includes fungi known to manipulate their insect hosts. For example, the "zombie-ant fungus" takes over an ant’s brain, prompting it to seek locations ideal for fungal growth before eventually killing it.

Interestingly, the preserved fly had a fungal structure protruding from its head, while the ant pupa showed an unusual eruption from its metapleural gland. This specific behavior has never been documented in any known Ophiocordyceps species, indicating that these may indeed be new species.

By comparing these ancient fungi to modern relatives, researchers gained insights into their evolutionary history. They discovered that Ophiocordyceps likely originated in the early Cretaceous period, evolving to infect various insects as those populations flourished.

The quest to map out the history of parasitic fungi has been challenging due to a lack of ancient samples, according to experts at London’s Natural History Museum. Co-author Edmund Jarzembowski noted the strangeness of nature from the dinosaur era still echoes today. This discovery provides a glimpse into the early evolution of these adaptable pathogens.

As we reflect on these findings, it’s striking to consider how the themes of survival and adaptation presented in games like The Last of Us are mirrored in the intricate world of nature. Such studies remind us of the long and complex relationship between different species, a dynamic that’s been unfolding for millions of years.

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Cretaceous,Evolution,Fungi,pathogens