[ignoramous]

Reminds me of this NatGeo Hostile Planet video on Cordyceps, a fungi that infects ants [0] It drugs the ant, takes control of its muscles, and forces it to climb up to a spot where there's just enough sunlight and humidity for the fungi to grow some more. 3 weeks in, the ant is all but a breeding ground of Cordyceps ready to unleash on other ants, with enough reach to wipe out entire ant colonies.

Here's the kicker, there are over 600 species of Cordyceps that infect a variety of insects.

May be the fiction writers have it wrong... It could very well be a Fungus that likely causes a zombie apocalypse, having evolved from lack of rain forests and crawlers to infest...

[0] https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/vijGdWn5-h8

[zeta0134]

Indeed, this is the central plot point driving the narrative in The Last of Us. [0]

https://thelastofus.fandom.com/wiki/Cordyceps_Brain_Infectio...

[sandworm101]

They grow in animals, insects, with 'open' circulatory systems. Something that large growing in our 'closed' circulatory system (blood vessels/tubes) would quickly kill us.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circulatory_system#Open_circul...

[thaumasiotes]

> It drugs the ant, takes control of its muscles, and forces it to climb

Really? Is the climbing caused by muscular movements provoked by the fungus, or is it caused by the fungus causing the ant to desire to climb up to such a spot, and letting the ant move its own muscles?

[matheusmoreira]

> It could very well be a Fungus that likely causes a zombie apocalypse

This is the plot of The Last of Us.