alt Hacker NewsA glob of 99M-year-old amber trapped a zombie fungus erupting from a fly
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Zombie fungi pulled from amber is the makings of a movie ;)
"Cold Storage" by American screenwriter David Koepp comes to mind, a comedy splatter novel. I don't usually read such books, but this one was funny and entertaining.
These aren't necessarily related to today's Ophiocordyceps fungus. Fungi that take control of arthropods and cause them to climb to disperse spores have convergently evolved more than once, including Arthrophaga myriapodina, which affects millipedes, and is in a different Division (the level above Class) from Ophiocordyceps.
Convergent evolution is more common than you might think. Trees, for example, have separately evolved at least 100 times.
Fungi likely precedes the Dinos by 100's millions of years
Everyone is understandably referencing the Last of Us but Common Side Effects deserves a mention as well.
I for one welcome our new mushroom overlords.
"You want Zombie Apocalypse?! Because THAT's how you get Zombie Apocalypse!"
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When you realize the fungus' primary intent was to convince the fly to land in amber ...