Even dinosaurs had lice, fossils entombed in amber reveal


Dec. 10, 2019

As most parents of small children know, lice are survival artists, skilled at avoiding detection and spreading to new hosts. And now it’s clear they’ve had plenty of practice. New fossils found in amber reveal the insects have been around for at least 100 million years, when they feasted on feathered dinosaurs.

The find “is very, very cool and very exciting for the louse community,” says Julie Allen, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Nevada in Reno who was not involved with the work. “Having an actual fossil—and not only this old, but feeding on feathers? That’s spectacular.”

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019...d-amber-reveal