THE ARTIFACT

Log 4, Rhizopus parasitic. After studying what was left of the infected snow snatcher, I’ve learned of a new species. I will call it Rhizopus parasitic as it is a species of parasitic mold. The fact that this planet has mold means that other forms of fungi might exist; actually, all the plants I’ve seen might be an off branch of a fungal species. Going back to the mold; the body structure seems to give the answer to many of the mold’s unusual properties. The most apparent one is the molds parasitic nature; the spores need nutrients to grow and the only to get said nutrients is by hijacking an animal’s body. Once the spores have attached themselves to a host they will begin to rapidly reproduce, slowly killing the host. The mold can keep the host somewhat alive by using its hyphae as a pseudo nervous system, this allows the mold full access to the host’s body. The mold will also form large clusters when in abundance, this is because the sporangium is directly connected to the hyphae which allows the mold to form these tightly knit towers. The main way for a host to get infected is by bathing in mud infected with the spores, the spores are connected to the sporangium via a thick mucus that is melted away by mud. Tests have shown that the mold can only survive in temperatures below 45 Fahrenheit, anything above will cause the hyphae to stretch out and thin, leading to a floppy and brittle structure. The discovery of this new species is exciting not because of its existence, but because of the potential existence of other fungal species.