If you thought to yourself after watching the TV series “The Last of Us” that humans were the first species to be attacked by fungi, we have to tell you that it seems that our amphibian friends have surpassed us.
In what is believed to be the first documented case, researchers found a live golden-backed frog in a small reservoir on the foothills of the Kudermokha mountain range in India. Indosylvirana intermedia They found a mushroom sprouting from its side.
written by IFL Science, mycologists determined that the small mushroom belongs to a genus of fungi known as cap mushrooms or Mycena. This group of fungi, often known as saprophytes or gondroids, usually live on and feed on decaying organic matter. Due to this, it is unclear how the fungus grows on the frog.
Frogs and mushrooms are often found in close proximity to each other and are well adapted to living in humid environments, but the degree of closeness observed in this example is surprising.
A frog’s skin normally does a pretty good job of keeping invaders out, so experts think something like an injury or infection may have inadvertently let the fungus in.
Mycologist Christopher Boogharder told Forbes: “I’m guessing it’s a superficial skin infection with Mycenae. “They can persist in humans for a long time like most skin fungal infections.” Harder had previously discovered that Mycenaean fungi are not limited to living in living plant hosts, as previously thought, but can also attack the roots of living plants.
The discovery of the sprouting of this type of mushroom on the side of a frog and the lack of documented cases in the past of mushroom growth on a living animal host show the adaptability of these mushrooms.
The fate of the frog is not known. The frog was not taken out of the wild, so it is not possible to predict its fate. The animal was alive and moving at the time, so it is unlikely that it became a zombie and attacked other frogs.
Scientists report in the journal Reptiles & Amphibians It has been published.
