'Mushroom' Sprouting Out of Frog in India Has 'Last of Us' Fans Screaming 'It is Over'

For those immersed in the ‘The Last of Us’ universe, it’s not just the haunting post-apocalyptic landscape or the chilling prospect of transformation that keeps players awake at night. It’s the unsettling notion that such a scenario could transcend fiction and manifest in reality. While the likelihood of waking up to a world overrun by flesh-eating fungal zombies remains slim, the recent discovery of a mushroom ‘sprouting’ out of a frog in India serves as a jolting reminder of the eerie possibilities lurking in our midst.

Yes, you read that right! A golden-backed frog has been spotted adorned with a tiny mushroom protruding from its flank—an unprecedented sight that triggers haunting memories of the documentary glimpsed on Joel’s TV screen in ‘The Last of Us’. This intriguing yet somewhat unsettling revelation has set the minds of fans ablaze, sparking a frenzy of speculation and mild panic as they contemplate the notion of the game transcending fiction into reality.

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Social media platforms have become veritable battlegrounds for the expression of fears and the revival of discussions about the blurred lines between fantasy and the tangible world.

Take a Look:

“THE BEGINNING OF THE ZOMBIES,” exclaimed one fervent user on platform ‘X’, encapsulating the collective apprehension with succinct fervour. Another, adopting a more sardonic tone, quipped, “So… a frog in India has a mushroom growing out him. That doesn’t remind me of anything terrifying. Nope?” Meanwhile, a third chimed in, “ARE YOU CROAKING ME? THERES A MUSHROOM GROWING OUTTA A LIVING FROG AND I FIND OUT ON LEAP YEAR DAY.”

Adding to the intrigue is the eerie resonance between this mushroom-clad frog and the fictional genesis of the infection depicted in HBO’s adaptation of ‘The Last of Us’. In the series, the contagion originates from innocuous commodities in Jakarta, Indonesia, before spreading globally via international trade routes. The discovery in Karnataka, India, underscores the interconnectedness of nations and the eerie possibility of life imitating art.

With discussions in full swing, any deviation from the norm, such as this peculiar fungal growth, raises red flags for frog species’ well-being, notes Karthikeyan Vasudevan, a leading scientist specialising in endangered species conservation. Although not directly involved in the discovery, Vasudevan emphasises the importance of vigilant monitoring in the wake of such anomalies.

“Sick animals in the wild have very little chance of survival. To notice a sick animal is difficult, as they die or get eaten up quickly. Therefore, something like this is interesting and should be followed up with observations and screening of frogs,” Vasudevan said in an email.

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Initially, Vasudevan had thought the mushroom was stuck on the frog’s skin rather than a growth, but photos convinced him otherwise. “It is indeed the case of a live mushroom on a live frog,” Vasudevan confirmed. “But one of the possibilities is that there is a small piece of woody debris under the skin of the frog after it got lodged in the skin and it has sprouted a mushroom from it,” Vasudevan adds, highlighting the urgency of understanding and addressing such peculiar phenomena.