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Huge Jurassic Fleas May Have Fed On Dinosaurs

Posted by samzenpus on from the we're-gonna-need-a-bigger-collar dept.

ananyo writes "Primitive fleas were built to sup on dinosaur blood in the Jurassic period, more than 150 million years ago. The potential host–parasite relationship has been uncovered thanks to a set of beautifully preserved fossils found in China. Today, the varied group of parasitic insects known as fleas frequently infests mammals and birds. But little is known about their origins. Researchers have now extended the history of the parasites by at least 60 million years. Whereas modern fleas range from 1 to 10 millimeters in length, the Jurassic and Cretaceous species were between 8 and 21 millimeters. The Jurassic and Cretaceous fleas also lacked the spring-legged, jumping specializations of modern species, and their siphoning mouthparts were armored structures studded with saw-like projections, unlike the smooth jaws of modern fleas."

21 of 85 comments (clear)

  1. Big by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 2

    Is there anything from that era that wasn't super sized? Are the Q slowly changing the gravitational constant of the universe over time? TELL ME!

    1. Re:Big by oodaloop · · Score: 5, Funny

      I think I read bacteria were the size of pancakes. And pancakes were the size of the manhole covers. Libraries of Congress were smaller then though.

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    2. Re:Big by Yvan256 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Is there anything from that era that wasn't super sized?

      Fast food meals?

      Are the Q slowly changing the gravitational constant of the universe over time?

      Oh look, the monkey is capable of primitive thinking!

    3. Re:Big by WTFmonkey · · Score: 3, Insightful

      More O2 and CO2, at double the atmospheric pressure of today, so higher partial pressures of oxygen and fewer problems getting oxygen to the extremities. I think.

    4. Re:Big by avgjoe62 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, but the size of a VW Bug has always been a constant, thus explaining its popularity as a unit of comparative measurement.

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      How come Slashdot never gets Slashdotted?

    5. Re:Big by St.Creed · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Actually, they worked amazingly well. Humans or even primates have yet to come close to the length of time they dominated the planet. Only when circumstances changed drastically, they were unable to survive.

      Humanity is ever trying to close the gap with the dinosaurs in that area but failing so far. However, the current experiment in geo-engineering are going to be quite helpful towards the goal of catching up with the dinosaurs.

      --
      Therefore, by the (faulty) logic you're using, you're just a cow with a keyboard - osu-neko (2604)
  2. Dino by SJHillman · · Score: 4, Funny

    I bet Fred Flintstone spent a fortune on Dino Advantix II

  3. Huge? by vlm · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Written as "huge" I was expecting 8 to 21 cm not 8 to 21 mm. Sooo unimpressed.

    I'm told you guys in Florida have cockroaches the size of dachshunds, that kind of scale is what I was expecting.

    --
    "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
    1. Re:Huge? by djdanlib · · Score: 2

      If you've ever had an animal get fleas, you'll cringe at the thought of a 2.1cm long flea!

    2. Re:Huge? by charlesj68 · · Score: 2

      Reviewing your spam folder has corrupted your expectations.

    3. Re:Huge? by evil_aaronm · · Score: 2

      On the other hand, they'd be much easier to pick out of fur, or step on if they're in the carpet.

    4. Re:Huge? by Truedat · · Score: 2

      And the movie would be lame too: "Run for your lives these fleas are slightly bigger!"

  4. Re:Bacteria Schmacteria by tripleevenfall · · Score: 2

    In Jurassic Pangaea, pancakes eat you!

  5. Re:Reminds me of an SF short story from decades ag by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    You're thinking of "Poor Little Warrior" by Brian Aldiss. One of my favorites.

    But it wasn't humorous at all. The protagonist is in a severe depression, not sure he wants to live, and tries this time safari to snap out of it.

    After he shoots the brontosaur, its parasites swarm him, snipping off his fingers, shredding his chest, etc. It takes a minute or two for him to die. Very nasty. Not really funny. But a good story.

  6. Re:Reminds me of an SF short story from decades ag by Hognoxious · · Score: 2

    Those are shit parasites. The first rule of being a parasite is you don't kill your host. The second rule is that you can break the first rule, but only if you've got another host lined up.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  7. Re:Let me be the first to suggest... by Endo13 · · Score: 2

    Sounds most excellent!

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  8. Re:Let me be the first to suggest... by Yvan256 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Not that phone box. The other one.

  9. Re:Let me be the first to suggest... by oodaloop · · Score: 2

    Bogus!

    --
    Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
  10. Their descendents by SwampChicken · · Score: 2

    are alive and well and now feed off our stock markets and banking sector.

  11. Re:Reminds me of an SF short story from decades ag by Chris+Burke · · Score: 2

    Hey, they had a host lined up, but their assumption that whatever killed the Tyrannosaur would be big enough for them was off. Give them a break, they're bugs!

    --

    The enemies of Democracy are
  12. Modern-day fleas up to 1cm in length? by harryjohnston · · Score: 3, Informative

    "Whereas modern fleas range from 1 to 10 millimeters in length ..."

    Whoa, 1cm sounds pretty darned big for a flea. That's about the same size as a typical bee. Wikipedia says fleas reach up to 3.3mm which seems more reasonable to me.

    Anybody know of a modern-day flea species that actually reaches 10mm? (What do they live on, elephants?)