Lousy with Success: Genetics Reveal Fossil Lice as Evolutionary Champions [Slide Show]

For feathered dinosaurs the late Cretaceous period may have been a very itchy time. Lice–the tiny wingless insects that feed on dead skin, and sometimes blood–were just beginning to dig in about 100 million years ago, and the epoch’s small furry mammals, early birds and dino-birds would have provided ample food. The louse fossil record is relatively sparse

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Lousy with Success: Genetics Reveal Fossil Lice as Evolutionary Champions [Slide Show]