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Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, commonly known as zombie-ant fungus, [2] is an insect-pathogenic fungus, discovered by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace in 1859, Zombie ants, infected by the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis fungus, are predominantly found in tropical rainforests.
The ant clamps it jaws around the plant in a "death grip" and following, mycelia grow from the ant's feet and stitch them to the surface of the plant. [9] The spores released from the ant carcass fall to the ground and infect other ants that come in contact with the spores so that this cycle continues. [10]
The cordyceps "zombie fungus" in 'The Last of Us' is indeed inspired by a real fungi found in ants. But here's what that means for those of us not living in a video-game story.
In this case, an infected person becomes a "hungry", a zombie thirsting for blood. In the fiction, Dr. Caldwell explains that the human-infecting fungus is a mutated form of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis (a group of species now split off from Cordyceps) which alters the behaviour of infected insects. The children of infected mothers, however ...
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The biggest thing is that, in order for a fungus to learn how to trick its host—the way that cordyceps can kind of trick the ants to spread the spores for it—takes millions of years of ...
Cordyceps adpropinquans (Ces.) Sacc. 1883; Cordyceps aeruginosclerota Z.Q. Liang & A.Y. Liu 1997; Cordyceps agriotidis Kawam. 1955; Cordyceps alba Kobayasi & Shimizu 1982; Cordyceps albella Massee 1899
Ophiocordyceps — the fungal inspiration for the “cordyceps” infection in the HBO series “The Last of Us” — hijacks the brain of an ant, compelling it to climb to elevated perches where ...
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