A rare mushroom that acts like the Cordyceps mushroom that inspired The Last of Us was recently discovered in a rainforest in Scotland.
In Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us, humanity is devastated by the Cordyceps brain infection, which turns humans into terrifying zombie-like creatures called Clickers.
This idea was used in HBO’s popular TV series The Last of Us, which begins with a flashback to 1968 and a warning from a scientist about the dangers of fungi.
Dr. Newman, played by John Hannah, talks about a fungus that infects insects and travels through the circulatory system to the brain, which floods it with hallucinogens. The Last of Us wonders what would happen if one of these types of fungi, so far limited to infecting insects, evolved to attack humans, and well, we all know the outcome.
Now, as reported The timesThe Gibellula fungus, which infects spiders through fungal spores and grows from within the body, eventually digesting the entire insect, has been found in Scotland. Like the parasitic fungal infection that infects humans in The Last of Us, the Gibellula fungus in the real world can make spiders act “zombie-like” before dying by causing them to attach to the underside of leaves, allowing the spores to spread more easily.
This is not the first time the Gibellula mushroom has been recorded in Scotland, but it is extremely rare. The Times said it has been found only 10 times in the country over the past 70 years.
Amateur naturalist Ben Mitchell, part of the Western Koala Habitat Restoration Project on the west coast of Scotland who made the discovery, said: “It is part of a group of fungi known to turn their victims into ‘zombies’ and force them to do so.” Act in a certain way before killing them.
“Gibellula appears to make the spiders move to the underside of the leaves, before sticking them there. Perhaps when they fruit, the spores are protected from the rain and can fall on other unsuspecting spiders more easily.”
“It’s a bit grim, but it’s part of the wonderful natural world.”
Since The Last of Us debuted on PlayStation, and then on television, real-world Cordyceps has found itself under the microscope, with some wondering whether the future the video game imagines might be possible in the real world. In fact, Cordyceps has long been studied by the scientific community and is even found in a number of health supplements. But don’t worry – so far none of these “zombie fungi” have evolved to gain the ability to control the human mind.
yet.
Wesley is IGN’s UK news editor. You can find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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