Meet the Dracula tick that drank dinosaur blood
- 6 years ago
OXFORD, UNITED KINGDOM — New research in the journal Nature Communications discusses how ticks fed on feathered dinosaurs.
The newly discovered species of tick is called Deinocroton draculi, meaning "Dracula's terrible tick".
The ticks were found inside 99-million-year-old lumps of amber from Myanmar. Two of the ticks were found with a dinosaur feather. One was wrapped around it.
Researchers say the finding the is the first direct evidence that ticks fed on feathered dinosaurs.
Scientists suspect the feather belonged to an unknown type dinosaur or a ancient bird species called enantiornithine.
The newly discovered species of tick is called Deinocroton draculi, meaning "Dracula's terrible tick".
The ticks were found inside 99-million-year-old lumps of amber from Myanmar. Two of the ticks were found with a dinosaur feather. One was wrapped around it.
Researchers say the finding the is the first direct evidence that ticks fed on feathered dinosaurs.
Scientists suspect the feather belonged to an unknown type dinosaur or a ancient bird species called enantiornithine.