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Insects May Have Had a Hand In Dinosaur Extinction

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the so-did-my-cooking dept.

eldavojohn writes "Everyone's got their favorite theories of Dinosaur extinction, but new speculation is rampant in a book that gives cause to believe it may have been disease-carrying insects. Due to the length of their slow and eventual extinction (the 'K-T Boundary'), it is argued that this would more likely be attributed to the spread of disease and the rise of parasitic insects like ticks or biting flies. Are our immune systems the only reason any animals survived?"

2 of 270 comments (clear)

  1. Three questions by A+nonymous+Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why wouldn't this also affect mammals? Is there an implication that dinosaurs had more primitive immune systems? Is any of this more than mere speculation?

    I also would have thought dinosaurs had thicker skin, if for no other reason than having a lot more meat to hold together than the puny mammals of the time. Is this not a factor? Do modern day elephants and rhinoceroses suffer from insect infestations even tho they have thick skins?

    And lastly, I thought recent research had shown that the slow dying theory was just an artifact of the skimpy fossil record, that they did indeed die out very abruptly at the K-T layer. Is my memory wrong here?

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    1. Re:Three questions by ColdWetDog · · Score: 5, Insightful

      My question would be, if these insects were either large enough, or had the ability to penetrate the thick hide of a dinosaur, what chance would a small mammal have had from one of them?

      A proto-mosquito the size of turkey is flying around.

      OK, you're a six story tall dinosaur ...
      Or a three inch tall proto-mouse.

      Who's gonna get bit?

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