HN Explorer

13 comments

[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 34.6 ms ] thread
TruffleLabs
Zombie fungi pulled from amber is the makings of a movie ;)
ge96
Thaw, The Thing (overt), Andromeda Strain, Deep Rising (overt)
pfdietz
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.

pabs3
My favourite tree evolution thing is the forests in the Galapagos being evolved from dandelion seeds blown in on the wind from South America.
mystified5016
Mullberry plants are weird. They're happy to exist as a small shrub or a 60ft tree, depending on how they're cultivated.

One of the largest trees I've ever personally seen was a mullberry on some long-abandoned land adjoining mine. But they're also a bush?

downrightmike
Fungi likely precedes the Dinos by 100's millions of years
usrbinbash
"You want Zombie Apocalypse?! Because THAT's how you get Zombie Apocalypse!"
WediBlino
"Bomb the city and everything in it"
davidpfarrell
When you realize the fungus' primary intent was to convince the fly to land in amber ...
bluepuma77
"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.