This Prehistoric Parasite Has Unlocked Something WRONG

Cordyceps is a prehistoric parasite fungus that infects insects like ants, hijacks their nervous system, and steers them to a precise spot before killing them and sprouting spores from their corpse. It's been around for millions of years, even taking over insects' bodies in today's rain forests. By the way, this is the organism that inspired the video game "The Last of Us" and the series based on it. Here's how cordyceps works: When a single spore lands on an ant, it breaks through its exoskeleton using enzymes, and spreads through its body using its own bloodstream. Within hours, the fungus takes control of the ant's nervous system. Scientists are still working to understand how these organisms control their hosts. Until today, we have no idea how they do it. Infected ants climb to about 10 inches above the ground, always on the northern side of a plant, where humidity sits between 94 and 95 percent and temperature ranges from 68 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. There, the ant bites into a leaf and locks its jaw in what scientists call a death grip. The ant dies still clamped to the leaf, and a fruiting body erupts from the base of its head, scattering new spores onto the forest floor below. A similar prehistoric parasite fungus called Gibellula does the same to spiders. In 2021, a film crew in an abandoned gunpowder store in Northern Ireland found an infected cave spider that had crawled out of hiding to die in the open. The new species was named Gibellula attenboroughii after Sir David Attenborough. More infected spiders have since been found in caves across Ireland. Could this happen to humans? So far, no fungus like Cordyceps has adapted to us. Human body temperature destroys the spores before infection can occur, and Cordyceps has co-evolved with specific insect hosts for millions of years, making it too species-specific to jump to mammals. But there are other parasites who do already influence human behavior. Toxoplasma, carried by cats, passes through mice and makes them lose their fear of cat urine. In humans, toxoplasma infection has been linked to increased risk-taking and, in some studies, symptoms resembling schizophrenia. #wildsparks