Zombies have become iconic figures in popular culture, with the zombie apocalypse appearing in several books, films, and television shows. Is there, however, any evidence of zombiism in nature? To learn out, read this special feature.
The word zombie first came into the English language in the 1800s, when poet Robert Southey mentioned it in his History of Brazil. Today, people use the word "zombie" a lot more loosely to refer to anyone that presents as apathetic, moves slowly, and demonstrates little awareness of their surroundings. Do zombies exist in nature, and if so, what are they, and how do they enter this state of "undeath?"
1.Zombi Ants
Mycologists are continuously counting the species of Ophiocordyceps, a fungus genus with over 200 species. Many fungi can be deadly, often because they are toxic to mammals, but Ophiocordyceps is particularly terrifying for one reason in particular.
Ophiocordyceps is a species of fungus that infects, controls, and kills carpenter ants (Camponotus castaneus), native to North America. The parasitic fungus takes control of the insect's mind, altering its behavior to make the propagation of fungal spores more likely. Ophiocordeps "feed" on the insects they attach to, growing into and out of their bodies until the insects die.
When Ophiocordyceps unilateralis infect carpenter ants, they turn them into zombies. The ants become compelled to climb to the top of elevated vegetation, where they remain affixed and die. The high elevation allows the fungus to grow and later spread its spores widely.
O. unilateralis takes full control of the ants' muscle fibers, forcing them to move as it "wants" them to. Researchers found that a high percentage of the cells in a host were fungal cells.
2.Zombie Spider
Zoologist Philippe Fernandez-Fournier and colleagues made a chilling discovery in the Ecuadorian Amazon. They found that a previously unknown species of the Zatypota wasp can manipulate spiders from the Anelosimus eximius species to an extent never before witnessed in nature.
But Fernandez-Fournier and team noticed that members of this species infected with Zatypota larva exhibited bizarre behavior, leaving their colony to weave tightly-spun, cocoon-like webs in remote locations.
French researchers have created artificial "cocoons" for Zatypota wasps, which lay eggs on the abdomen of A. eximius spiders. When the egg hatches and the wasp larva emerges, it starts feeding on the spider and begins to take control of its body. The insect turns into a zombie-like creature that is compelled to stray away from its mates and spin the cocoon.
3. The Reanimated Virus
The idea of reanimating humans, or at least human-like monsters, as in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or H. P. Lovecraft's "Herbert West: Reanimator," has captivated the imagination of writers, filmmakers, and, of course, scientists throughout history.
But while dead people are not yet living on the card of our race, other organisms are still alive. This can be very disturbing if we believe these organisms are... viruses.
In 2014, researchers from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique at Aix–Marseille Université in France dug a fascinating organism out of the Siberian permafrost: a so-called giant virus, about 30,000 years old, which they named Pithovirus sibericum.
P. sibericum is a DNA virus that contains a large number of genes — as many as 500. The size of giant viruses, as well as the fact that they contain such a large amount of DNA, can make them particularly dangerous. Scientists warn that there may be similar giant viruses buried inside the permafrost that could prove dangerous to humans.
4. Zombie Plants
Also, in 2014, the John Innes Center researchers in Norwich, UK, found some plants turning into 'zombies' by certain bacteria, called phytoplasm.
The bacteria — which insects disseminate — infect plants such as goldenrods, which have yellow flowers. The infection causes the goldenrods to put out leaf-like extensions instead of their usual blooms.
Researchers from Friedrich Schiller University Jena in Germany have studied the activity of phytoplasma, a type of insect. Phytoplasmas can grow leaf-like growths that attract more insects, which allows the bacteria to "travel" widely and infect other plants. The researchers are fascinated by how this transformation can bend the host's "will" to make it grow the elements they require to spread and thrive.
5. Human Zombies ?
But can people also become zombies? In the 1990s, Professor Roland Littlewood and Dr Chavannes Douyon decided to examine whether Haitian — revived, but unmindful people — zombies were an actual opportunity.
Two researchers have published a study paper in which they analyzed the cases of three individuals from Haiti whose communities had identified as zombies. One was a 30-year-old woman who had, allegedly, quick
ly died after having fallen ill. Her family recognized her walking about as a "zombie" 3 years after this event. Another was a young man who had "died" at 18, and reemerged after another 18 years at a cockfight. The final case study concerned another woman who died at 18 but was spotted again as a zombie 13 years later.
Dr. Douyon and Prof. Littlewood examined the three “zombies,” and found that they had not been the victims of an evil spell. Instead, medical reasons could explain their zombification.
The first "zombie" had catatonic schizophrenia, a rare condition that makes the person act as though they are walking in a stupor.
The second person had experienced brain damage, and also had epilepsy, while the third appeared merely to have a learning disability.
But there is also a specific psychiatric disorder called Cotard's syndrome that can cause people to act like zombies.This is because they are under the delusion that they are dead order composing.
It remains unclear just how prevalent this condition is, but research suggests that it is a rare occurrence.
- One case study the situation of a 53-year-old woman who “was complaining that she was dead, smelled like rotting flesh, and wanted to be taken to a morgue so that she could be with dead people."
- A 65-year-old man believed that his organs, including his brain, had stopped working and the house in which he lived was slowly but steadily falling apart. The man's suicide note revealed that he wanted to kill himself as he feared spreading a deadly infection to the villagers who resultantly might suffer from cancer. Do such cases mean that zombies are real in some way, or do they merely reflect our uneasy relationship with death? We leave it to you to decide.
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