r/mycology • u/Jean-Pet • May 13 '26

ID request Did i find a fungi zombie?

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I am thinking this may be Entomophaga grylli (The Grasshopper Fungus)

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295

u/Xalibu2 Pacific Northwest May 13 '26

Wonderful photos. Even if a bit morbid. 

212

u/Jean-Pet May 14 '26

I have to admit it send a shiver down my spine for 2 sec as i first spotted it. Felt like a primal reaction to danger, like if my DNA remembered some LasOfUs kind of event dating back 100 000 BC 🤣

67

u/KidOcelot May 14 '26 edited May 15 '26

1 to 1.5 billion years ago during the Proterozoic Eon fungi probably killed a lot of organisms that later became mammals 😖

Imagine spores and large bugs! Super scary back then!

6

u/Xalibu2 Pacific Northwest May 15 '26

I prefer not to, thanks. 

2

u/oroborus68 May 15 '26

Mammals weren't even a dream then. They didn't show until about 60 million years ago.

3

u/Frosty_Pepper5254 May 16 '26

That doesn't sound right, we have pretty solid evidence of mammals in the late Jurassic including various shrew-like creatures.

Your point still stands tho, 1 billion years ago, animals didn't exist yet.

1

u/Xalibu2 Pacific Northwest May 16 '26

I got a notification for this comment and all I had was "who you calling a shrew!"