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InvisibleveggieM

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
Four New Species of Zombie Ant Fungi Discovered in Brazilian Rainforest * 2
    #14058497 - 03/03/11 05:48 AM (13 years, 2 days ago)

Four New Species of Zombie Ant Fungi Discovered in Brazilian Rainforest
March 2, 2011 - sciencedaily.com

Four new Brazilian species in the genus Ophiocordyceps have been published in the online journal PLoS ONE. The fungi, named by Dr. Harry Evans and Dr. David Hughes, belong to a group of "zombifying" fungi that infect ants and then manipulate their behavior, eventually killing the ants after securing a prime location for spore dispersal.

These results appear in a paper by Evans et al. entitled Hidden Diversity Behind the Zombie-Ant Fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis: Four New Species Described from Carpenter Ants in Minas Gerais, Brazil. This paper is the first to validly publish new fungal names in an online-only journal while still complying with the rules and recommendations of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN).

Beyond this important milestone, the paper is noteworthy for the attention it draws to undiscovered, complex, biological interactions in threatened habitats. The four new species all come from the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil which is the most heavily degraded biodiversity hotspot on the planet. Ninety-two percent of its original coverage is gone.

The effect of biodiversity loss on community structure is well known. What researchers don't know is how parasites, such as these zombie-inducing fungi, cope with fragmentation. Here the authors show that each of the four species is highly specialized on one ant species and has a suite of adaptations and spore types to ensure infection. The life-cycle of these fungi that infect, manipulate and kill ants before growing spore producing stalks from their heads is remarkably complicated. The present work establishes the identification tools to move forward and ask how forest fragmentation affects such disease dynamics.

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Offlinedownlowfunk
Retired Festival Veteran
Male


Registered: 09/25/04
Posts: 880
Loc: Physical Realm
Last seen: 3 years, 5 months
Re: Four New Species of Zombie Ant Fungi Discovered in Brazilian Rainforest [Re: veggie]
    #14058667 - 03/03/11 07:53 AM (13 years, 2 days ago)

Genetically Modified Fungus?

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OfflineBoheim
Pondering Thangs
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Registered: 06/12/10
Posts: 770
Loc: edge of the future
Last seen: 11 years, 7 months
Re: Four New Species of Zombie Ant Fungi Discovered in Brazilian Rainforest [Re: veggie]
    #14058730 - 03/03/11 08:18 AM (13 years, 2 days ago)

amazing things losing their homes all for some lumber...


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Není důležité co v životě děláš, hlavně že to dělaš.

You can read books about mycology and taxonomy all your life, until you actually go out and hunt mushrooms you are nothing but a bloody n00b. Same goes for mushroom cultivation or any other subject. Theoretical knowledge is nothing without practical application of that knowledge.
-German Kahuna

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OfflineDarklight203
Same Shit
Male


Registered: 08/14/10
Posts: 1,394
Loc: Nome, Alaska Flag
Last seen: 4 months, 5 days
Re: Four New Species of Zombie Ant Fungi Discovered in Brazilian Rainforest [Re: downlowfunk]
    #14059023 - 03/03/11 09:59 AM (13 years, 2 days ago)

No, they're natural. Just recently documented.


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In ancient times, when demons roamed with man, They hunted, loved and lost, hand in hand, As time went on, the difference between them faded. You couldn't tell anymore, demons and man were related, and some would say the same, but who would like to claim? In time, Gods had even forgot, Demons, too, once love had sought. In times recent I remember, Once I was a man, In my heart I had an ember, I'll relate the best I can but it was snuffed, one distant December. And yet here I stand, no flesh, no bones, no seed or semen, All that's left is this Demon.

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Offlinecrokms
Duke of Nuts
Male


Registered: 11/29/10
Posts: 281
Loc: Mountain State Flag
Last seen: 11 years, 1 month
Re: Four New Species of Zombie Ant Fungi Discovered in Brazilian Rainforest [Re: Boheim]
    #14060750 - 03/03/11 03:20 PM (13 years, 1 day ago)

Quote:

Boheim said:
amazing things losing their homes all for some lumber...



ya and once thyre gone theyre gone:facepalm:


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Its not always about the harvest
Sometimes, the hunt is just as good
:shroompick:

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InvisibleWise Toad
 User Gallery

Registered: 06/08/10
Posts: 2,690
Re: Four New Species of Zombie Ant Fungi Discovered in Brazilian Rainforest [Re: crokms]
    #14060812 - 03/03/11 03:32 PM (13 years, 1 day ago)

With all the genetics research and gene splicing going on you never know when a scientist may create a devastating zombie fungus that affects humans

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OfflineHumility
Working on it
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Registered: 10/07/08
Posts: 6,745
Last seen: 7 years, 10 days
Re: Four New Species of Zombie Ant Fungi Discovered in Brazilian Rainforest [Re: Wise Toad]
    #14061756 - 03/03/11 05:56 PM (13 years, 1 day ago)

I wonder if any of these cordyceps fungus might be one of those much-hyped "plants and animals" of the amazon that could provide us with a miracle cure.  We already know that certain varieties of cordyceps have ginseng-like properties

Also I was just talking with someone I met for the first time tonight through okcupid about cordyceps.  She and I agreed that zombie apocalypse would probably come in that form if any.


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