Tag Archives: Zombie

‘Zombie’ fungi that hijack insects are not just a modern forest horror story. A pair of tiny fossils locked in Burmese amber shows that these parasites stalked ants and flies nearly 100 million years ago in what is now Myanmar. The newly described fungi, Paleoophiocordyceps gerontoformicae and Paleoophiocordyceps ironomyiae, sprouted from their long‑dead hosts, just like today’s entomopathogenic relatives. This gruesome strategy …

A recent deep-sea experiment has led to the discovery of a “zombie worm” species capable of devouring entire alligators. Conducted by researchers at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON), this study has revealed some truly unexpected behaviors from ocean scavengers. The experiment involved dropping three dead alligators into the Gulf of Mexico, aiming to see how creatures in the deep …