Scientists found that the magic behind so-called “magic mushrooms”—psilocybin, a psychedelic compound—has evolved at least twice in mushrooms, and in very different ways.

Researchers in Germany and Austria examined two different types of magic mushrooms. They showed that while both kinds make psilocybin, the biochemistry each relied on to produce the natural compound were entirely distinct. The findings suggest psilocybin may be an example of convergent evolution, in which two, unrelated forms of life nevertheless evolve to develop similar traits or features.

“Mushrooms have learned twice independently how to make the iconic magic mushroom natural product psilocybin,” the authors wrote in the paper, published last month in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

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