Magic Mushrooms: How dinosaur killing asteroid gave rise to shrooms 65m years ago

For a long time, scientists have theorised that a huge asteroid struck the Earth 65 million years ago, causing the catastrophic extinction of dinosaurs from the planet and also giving rise to a new phase of animal, plant, and other life from the ashes. An artist's illustration showing Silutitan sinensis (left) and Hamititan xinjiangensis (right), with other theropods and dinosaur species in the surroundings.

Magic mushrooms, also referred to as psilocybin producing mushrooms, are among the fungi that appear to have emerged at this time. According to a recent genomic diversity study that was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, the Psilocybe genus evolved approximately 65 million years ago, which is significantly earlier than previously believed.

This would indicate that the emergence of magic mushrooms coincided with the extinction of the dinosaurs due to a meteor impact. Since hallucinogenic mushrooms are still illegal under federal law and are thought to have no therapeutic value, experts from both domestic and foreign institutions have been studying these fungi as much as they can.

Indigenous Mesoamerican civilisations have long held a special place for these mushrooms. However, psilocybin therapy has recently been approved in Oregon and Colorado, two places that were formerly at the forefront of the legalisation of marijuana for recreational use. This has allowed more Americans to benefit from the therapy's alleged psychological advantages.

The latest research is essentially a summary of the years' worth of effort done by the scientists. By 2020, they want to have a genomic sequence for each specimen of the Psilocybe type that they acquire from international collections. They have sequenced 71 specimens thus far and are still going..