Nature Communications (Dec 2017)

Ticks parasitised feathered dinosaurs as revealed by Cretaceous amber assemblages

  • Enrique Peñalver,
  • Antonio Arillo,
  • Xavier Delclòs,
  • David Peris,
  • David A. Grimaldi,
  • Scott R. Anderson,
  • Paul C. Nascimbene,
  • Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01550-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Fossils of ticks are rare, and little is known about their ancient hosts. Here, Peñalver and colleagues describe ticks in Cretaceous amber, including representatives of the new family Deinocrotonidae, which are associated with a dinosaur feather and nest biota.