Was Ridley inspired by real-life parasites when designing the new life forms?

HAL_9000

Beware, this really is mind-boggling stuff, disgusting and pretty scary. So here's my take on fungus-controlled ants and fly larvae growing inside ant's heads only to burst out. Scale this up a bit and you're there! Life cycles and all, it's all not too far from what we've seen in the unrated trailer. I remembered this from a stunning documentary about the ancient Tepui's (Table Mountains) of Venezuela and Guyana. So I found this article on National Geographic, make sure you read all of it and browse through the slightly disturbing photo galleries.

"The fungus species can infect an ant, take over its brain, and then kill the insect once it moves to a location ideal for the fungi to grow and spread their spores."

"Zombie" Ants Found With New Mind-Control Fungi

So far so good, but when I thought things cannot get much nastier and horrid, I found this related article:

"In South America, female phorid flies have developed a bizarre reproductive strategy: They hover over fire ants, then inject their eggs into the ants with a needle-like appendage... Finally, the baby fly decapitates its host and hatches, exiting through the ant's head, as shown in the pictures in this gallery."

"Zombie" Ants Controlled, Decapitated by Flies

HAL 9000 - going on standby

Sticky_Fingaz

There are lots of creepy animals in the kingdom. Another:

Or even this creepy parasite that enters a fish's gills, and replaces the tongue with itself.

Jonesycatpants

looks like our friend assflower.

Kanesson

HAL_9000 said:

"The fungus species can infect an ant, take over its brain, and then kill the insect once it moves to a location ideal for the fungi to grow and spread their spores."

There's even a PS3 Game coming out called "The Last of Us" which uses this same premise...It's a survival horror game in the same vein as 28 Days Later...After this fungus infection wipes out the population, you must survive in a post-apocalyptic world where this fungus infection has reduced it's victims into violent mindless zombie-like infected whose heads are horribly mishapen from the fungi growing out of their brains...Trailers wicked.

Jonesycatpants

Yeah looks right down my alley Kanesson.

Vodi

cricket infected with parasitic worm, commits suicide

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7r1S6-op8E

ummester

Sticky_Fingaz said:
There are lots of creepy animals in the kingdom. Another:

Or even this creepy parasite that enters a fish's gills, and replaces the tongue with itself.

Caterpilla = why Holloway/Shaw want to protect cuddles.

Fish parasite = Xenomorph tongue:)

Mcy

Scott said that everything in the film can be traced to something in science or myth. This adds to the level of reality, just like Atwood's Handmaid's tale being a collection of real life news articles reworked into a fictional narrative. That being said, I think almost anything an artist dreams up is out there in nature in some way becuase nature just seems to grow and develop in so many original, odd, and functional ways. That said, the stuff Scott throws out still turns my shit white even after watching all those creepy bugs and worms (the one that eats bats is awesome!)

rabidranger

The disturbing thing about the movie is all of these nasties appear to have been engineers with a purpose. Bio-weapons of the highest order.

padruig

it took a couple of years but we've found out that the queens born from Africanized honey bees hatch one full day earlier than their European cousins

this pushes any European / African population mix towards an all African population by default

Visionist

It's funny because I thought I'd be sleeping tonight.

JasonDiaz

I previously mentioned that the Alien Cobra behaved like a parasite, thanks for the videos, I've seen some them before on the nature channel and they are very disturbing.

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