this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2025
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Science Memes

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390
We sure do like our Fungi (lemmy.ml)
submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by tetris11@lemmy.ml to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
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I was introduced yesterday to the FIMS hypothesis by PBS Eons.

The Fungal-Infection-Mammalian-Selection (hey that ryhmes!) hypothesis asks the question of why reptiles didn't bounce back as much as mammals did after the asteroid K/Pg extinction event.

After all, they need less energy than mammals as cold-blooded creatures, and they produce way way more offspring than mammals.

One theory is fungi: there was an explosion in fungal activity after the asteroid due to the now dark and dingy hellhole the Earth became, and a ton of fungal spores were floating around at the time, as seen in geological record.

Apparently fungal infections are not that deadly to mammals (it just irritates us), but were disastrous for reptiles. Plus us mammals had a new food source in the absence of plants and meat.

There's no conclusive proof, still, it's an interesting theory as to why the dinosaurs didn't bounce back and why us mammals took over.

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[–] omgboom@lemmy.dbzer0.com 93 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Hmm very mammalian

[–] NielsBohron@lemmy.world 31 points 4 months ago

Get this lizardposting outta here

[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 27 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I get that reference.

[–] Sir_Premiumhengst@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

It was a weird dream... 🦎

[–] interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

lunk?

[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

I can't find the lemmy thread about this image, but it was fun.

[–] YoiksAndAway@lemmy.zip 29 points 4 months ago (5 children)

You know, I was convinced that my chickens would eat any leftovers from the fridge that were about to go bad, but the one thing that they wouldn't touch was mushrooms. I didn't realize that the reason for that went all the way back to the extinction event that killed the dinosaurs.

[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 11 points 4 months ago

I mean maybe haha - I think they've adapted to eat them just fine since then

[–] happybadger@hexbear.net 7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

For what it's worth, they and other livestock love mycelium from culinary species like Pleurotus ostreatus. The substrate is healthy myceliated straw/grain with the complex carbs predigested by the fungi and it has immune system benefits for them: https://openagriculturejournal.com/contents/volumes/V17/e187433152305260/e187433152305260.pdf

My ideal homestead revolves around multi-tiered green recycling using them. The fungi break down the garden waste that the chickens won't eat, the unproductive mushroom colonies go to the chickens and pigeon towers, the manure and eggshells go into the vermicomposter and garden. Those mushroom colonies are a major cash crop with a myriad of health benefits depending on what you're growing.

[–] javiwhite@feddit.uk 3 points 4 months ago

Chicken: "woah, too soon bro".

[–] neukenindekeuken@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

That's a cool fact, do you have a source I could check out and read through? I tried some light web searching but couldn't find anything saying this.

[–] YoiksAndAway@lemmy.zip 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

No, it was just an observation about the backyard chickens I used to have. I have no idea if my chickens couldn't eat mushrooms or if they just didn't care for them.

[–] neukenindekeuken@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

ahh, that makes sense, thanks. Yeah, in what brief research I did, it does appear like there are a lot of mushrooms that aren't safe for chickens and lizards, possibly due to their biological differences, but that there were still a good number of mushrooms they could eat.

The interesting thing you were alluding to is that they have some biological instinct to not eat shrooms because maybe it wiped a lot of them out at one point. That'd be super cool to link :)

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 4 months ago

i'd imagine it's more down to mushrooms being kinda hard to digest (even humans struggle with this, especially if we're not used to eating mushrooms) and basically just being textured water with few nutrients.

[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 23 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Full PBS Eons video here: https://youtu.be/EPXbSx17030

[–] A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world 8 points 4 months ago (1 children)

That was really good, thanks! I'll definitely watch more

[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 7 points 4 months ago

They are a gem, them and the MinuteEarth guys.

[–] floo@retrolemmy.com 15 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Tripping Squirrels would make a great band name

[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Or spiritual successor to goat simulator.

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 4 months ago

squirrel with a gun?

[–] emeralddawn45@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 4 months ago

Makes me think of Squirrel Nut Zippers

[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 4 points 4 months ago

Yes it would

[–] angrystego@lemmy.world 13 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Wait, dinosaurs were not cold-blooded lizards. Are we talking lizards, reptiles including extinct dinosaurs or reptiles including dinosaurs including birds?

[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 14 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Oh, I'm not actually sure. I'm embaraased to say I assumed dinosaurs were cold-blooded... but you're right, theropods/birds are warm-blooded....

Hmm, I might need to watch the video again

[–] caseyweederman@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 months ago

What.
I assumed the same thing.

[–] Ledericas@lemm.ee 7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Depends on the type of fungus, fungal infections from birds, bars, and the ground are quite serious infections, and often require toxic anti fungal to kill it. If you heard amphotericin B, it's used to treat lethal fungal infections, but it's a toxic agent. Candida can be quite serious in immunocompromised people, but is was originally often found in people with hiv. Mammals were quite smaller and they could survive on less food, plus their niche was mostly small or nocturnal insects around the time of the dinosaurs, and most insect and plant orders survived the extinction event.

Bats themselves are mysterious as they don't know when they evolved, or what animal they came from. Just like bed bugs which came from bats, but nobody knows where their origins came from

[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 3 points 4 months ago

yeah that's true at mammals already being quite small at the time of the extinction event, and so already having an upperhand from a scale aspect.

oh wow I did not know that bats had an unclear origin! I just read up a bit and it sounds like the Onychonycteris and Icaronycteris fossils suggest some kind of tree-hanging mammal, but records are spotty.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/uncovering-bat-evolutionary-origins/

[–] HarmlessCake@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 4 months ago

At first glance it looks like the squirrel has got a joint and a bread xD

[–] AngrySquirrel@lemm.ee 6 points 4 months ago

Suck it, stupid lizards.

[–] NeelixBiederman@hexbear.net 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Further evidence to support my theory that fungi are a cognizant alien species trying to subtly guide mammals/humanity to a better future

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 4 months ago

can they maybe stop being subtle about it and just infect us and hook us into the mycelial internet? if we had a similar situation going on to what the blue aliens in avatar did with their brain tree i think things would be going a lot better..

[–] TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

so lizards can't eat mushrooms?

[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 3 points 4 months ago

they can

[–] choab@discuss.online 3 points 4 months ago

[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Are any reptiles vegetarian? Other than turtles? Can they eat mushrooms?

[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 3 points 4 months ago

https://reptilehow.org/lizards-that-are-vegetarian/

Green Iguanas and others consist on a leafy diet

As for can they eat mushrooms, apparently Bearded Dragon's and other common pet lizards should NEVER eat mushrooms, but that in the wild, there are some that dig up specific varieties and eat it