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Published on: December 15, 2023
On the probability of dinosaur fleas
Katharina Dittmar1,2, Qiyun Zhu3, Michael W Hastriter4
1Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, Cooke 109, Buffalo, NY, 14260, USA. kd52@buffalo.edu.
Fossil insects from China are unlikely to be dinosaur fleas. Current evidence does not support their classification as fleas or blood-feeding ectoparasites.
Area of Science:
- Paleontology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Insect Science
Background:
- Recent publications describe purported flea fossils from Jurassic and Early Cretaceous Chinese strata.
- These fossils were suggested to have parasitized non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and early mammals or birds.
- A recent study proposed blood-feeding as an explanation for an enlarged abdomen in a fossil specimen.
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