Dinosaurs had fleas too -- giant ones, fossils show

[Tank]

Dinosaurs had fleas too -- giant ones, fossils show

New fossils found in China are evidence of the oldest fleas - from 125 million to 165 million years ago, said Diying Huang of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology. Their disproportionately long proboscis, or straw-like mouth, had sharp weapon-like serrated edges that helped them bite and feed from their super-sized hosts, he and other researchers reported Wednesday in the journal Nature...

...But Engel said it's not just the size that was impressive about the nine flea fossils. It was their fearsome beak capable of sticking into and sucking blood from the hides of certain dinosaurs, probably those that had feathers...

I once read a time travel SiFi short story where a hunter got eaten by the dinosaur's parasites!

[Amicale]

Yikes, those suckers are big!  

Tank, that'd be an interesting story to read! I love anything to do with time travel. When it mixes with sci-fi, so much the better.

Also, this find regarding the fleas clearly disproves the Genesis account of the creation of man, and then the fall of man due to sin. Dinosaurs existed looooong before humans, and now we know they had giant fleas. Yet, Genesis clearly states that before the humans mucked things up, everything in the world was absolutely perfect.   I dunno about you, but if I was infested with those things, life wouldn't be perfect...

[Too Few Lions]

it sure wouldn't. Inch long fleas, yuck! I bet they'd leave one hell of a bite mark on you.

[OldGit]

I once read a time travel SiFi short story where a hunter got eaten by the dinosaur's parasites!

That's Poor Little Warrior by Brian Aldiss.  Excellently creepy!