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The Last of Us fungi: i luv you

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Pixel art of cordyceps fungi
"The Last of Us fungi: i luv you" Youtube thumbnail
Uploaded to Youtube June 6th, 2025
This episode was a delight! Shame the algoritm hated it but, c'est la vie. I'm in the truly wonderful position of having a day-job that gives me enough time outside work to pursue this time-intensive hobby that brings me fulfilment and joy and it breaks even on cost. What more could I ask for!

So: Citations.

This video was more of a visual analysis of the HBO show The Last of Us so there are no line-item citations. Below are the sources I consulted to be sure the scientific claims made are substantiated. Also a few related items you may enjoy if you somehow made it all the way over here!

=======🚂﹡☁ choochoooo🚂﹡☁======= next stop, Citation Station!
Link to the Source and titleDescription of source
Evans HC, Elliot SL, Hughes DP. Ophiocordyceps unilateralis: A keystone species for unraveling ecosystem functioning and biodiversity of fungi in tropical forests? Commun Integr Biol. 2011 Sep;4(5):598-602. doi: 10.4161/cib.16721. Epub 2011 Sep 1. PMID: 22046474; PMCID: PMC3204140.

Ophiocordyceps unilateralis		A keystone species for unraveling ecosystem functioning and biodiversity of fungi in tropical forests?
Kauserud H, Heegaard E, Halvorsen R, Boddy L, Høiland K, Stenseth NC. Mushroom's spore size and time of fruiting are strongly related: is moisture important? Biol Lett. 2011 Apr 23;7(2):273-6. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2010.0820. Epub 2010 Oct 20. PMID: 20961882; PMCID: PMC3061180.

Mushroom spore size relative to time of fruiting body		Mushroom's spore size and time of fruiting are strongly related: is moisture important?
Published in Royal Society Biology Letters
The many forms of The Zombie in folkore and MediaA fantastic episode of Monstrum from PBS I was pointed to when many commenters shared that the origial Haitian folklore of the Zombie!
A common field mushroom of North America One of the common "cartoon" mushrooms used in the background early in the video. Many many species look similar to Agaricus campestris, you need to see the spores to know for sure!
There may be a fungi responsible for making Bamboo grow so quicklyMycorhizomes!
Online textbook about mycorrhizal networks by Dr. Mark Brundrett of The University of Western Austrailia.

Mycorrhiza deep dive 		Just click it. Its so good. This website is what I want to be when I grow up.
MushroomExpert.comMushroomExpert.com, the best place to start learing about fungi online! In my opinion as a non-expert. Don't eat anything you find based on what I say please.

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