Two Species of Parasitic Fungi Found in 99-Million-Year-Old Amber

These fossil mushrooms in the middle of the Kachin Amber Cretaceous come from the same family as the Zombie-Ann mushroom Unilateralis Ophiocordycewho has gained wide recognition like inspiration behind post-apocalyptic video games and popular television series, The last of us.

Ecological reconstruction of Cretaceous insects and pathogenic fungi of insects. An ant throws an infected pupa and an infected fly is located on a distant tree trunk. Image credit: Zhuang and al., DOI: 10.1098 / RSPB.2025.0407.

The two new species, named Paleoophiocordyce gerontoformicae And Paleoophiocordyce ironomyiaeAmong the oldest fossil records of animal pathogenic mushrooms.

They were found in pieces of Kachin Amber, 99 million 99 million, collected Kachin Amber in a mine near the village of Noije Bum in northern Myanmar.

“Insects and mushrooms are among the most diverse groups of organizations, and they have been coexist for more than 400 million years in terrestrial ecosystems,” said Professor Edmund Jarzembowski, paleontologist at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology and the Museum of Natural History, London and its colleagues.

“Consequently, they have evolved complex and intimate ecological relationships with each other, such as mutualism, predation and parasitism.”

“Entomopathogenic fungi (pathogenic insect mushrooms) have in particular received attention as regulators of insect populations, although the majority of them remain unknown.”

“The infection begins with a spore that comes into contact with an appropriate host, is starting to germinate and rally through the layers of cuticles via enzymatic hydrolysis, reaching the cavity of the insect body (Haemocoel).”

“Once the insect body is penetrated, the fungus (at this stage as a yeast -shaped cells) proliferates by budding and consumes the insect body from the inside.”

“After a while, the insect is normally killed by fungal toxins and yeast -shaped cells form chains, passing through the filamentous stage shortly after the death of the host.”

“These filaments will then gradually be organized into compact structures producing spores (sporocarpes) which will emerge from the soft parts of the insect, distributing spores in the environment and possibly shaking up other hosts.”

Holotype of Paleoophiocordyce ironomyiae From Kachin Amber in the middle of the Cretaceous and the comparison with existing Ophiocordyceps fungi: (A, B) Global view with a lateral and back view of the Diptere host with the prostive fungal structure emerging laterally; (c) close -up of the fungal stroma of Paleoophiocordyce ironomyiae; (D, e) Apex of the Fungal Stroma; The red arrows indicate the periécia; (FH) existing Ophiocordyce Stroma on the guests of Ant (F) and Diptere (G, H). Scale bars – 0.5 mm (A, B), 0.1 mm (C) and 50 μm (D, E). Image credit: Zhuang and al., DOI: 10.1098 / RSPB.2025.0407.

According to the authors, Paleoophiocordyce gerontoformicae was found on a young ant, and Paleoophiocordyce ironomyiae was found on the fly.

“It is fascinating to see part of the strangeness of the natural world that we see today was also present at the height of the age of dinosaurs,” said Professor Jarzembowski.

“He is known as the Zombie-Anny mushroom because he can manipulate the behavior of his hosts as the popular post-apocalyptic video game shows and television series, The last of us. “”

“As the infections are deadly, Ophiocordyce And his fossil relatives have probably played an important role in the control of insect populations by the Cretaceous environment, in a way similar to the way in which their living counterparts do today. »»

“Although parasitic fungi are widespread in today’s ecosystems, it is rare to find fossil evidence.”

“Indeed, their soft tissues do not preserve well in fossils, and as they live within a host, they can be difficult to identify among insects.”

“Very few specimens of old parasitic mushrooms have been discovered, and we know so little about their evolution.”

“This last discovery offers a rare overview of these parasites a long time ago.”

The team’s article was published in the June 2025 issue of the Acts of the Royal Society B: Biological sciences.

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Yuhui Zhuang and al. Cretaceous entomopathogenic fungi shed light on the early evolution of insect-end associations. Proc. R. Soc. B 292 (2048): 20250407; DOI: 10.1098 / RSPB.2025.0407