Their work reveals that muscarine, another compound hallucinogenic to the mammalian brain, has been produced in the fruiting bodies of fungi for 60 million years.
You would think that since hallucinogenic compounds independently evolved several times over, that there would be a clear ecological purpose these substances.
Perhaps the key to understanding this object is that this toad excretes a hallucinogenic substance, and Central Americans believed that it represented an earth goddess.
Mushrooms and hippie culture go hand-in-hand, which is why after two years of writing for this blog, I haven't really talked about hallucinogenic mushrooms.
These species of fungi along with their hallucinogenic compounds interact with their ecosystems in diverse ways and have been doing so for millions of years.
Venetia Welby's exquisite and hallucinogenic Dreamtime (Quartet, April) is set in a near future in which we have lost the battle against climate change.
Ayahuasca is actually a combination of the leaves of one plant (Psychotria viridis) and the vines of another (Banisteriopsis caapi) - neither of which have any hallucinogenic power on their own.