Overview

• Researchers identified two new Paleoophiocordyceps species, P. gerontoformicae and P. ironomyiae, in 99-million-year-old Burmese amber.
• A study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B recalibrates the origin of behavior-manipulating Ophiocordyceps fungi to about 133 million years ago.
• Comparative trait analyses indicate ancestral fungi first parasitized beetles before shifting to infect ants and flies.
• Optical microscopy and 3D imaging reveal these specimens as the oldest direct evidence of parasitic fungal-insect relationships.
• Scientists will now examine Cretaceous leaves for fossilized death grips to trace early host-manipulation behaviors.