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Originally Posted by Phrozen Sands
Lol she sounds like a cute, smart kid. That’s actually a good question. Did you tell her that you could? You’re a vet, so could you? Don’t reptiles get fleas, ticks and viruses.
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Thank you, Phrozen. Yes, she is smart.
Well, a lot of the parasites that plagued the dinosaurs have gone extinct, so I’d only be able to go off of modern fleas/ticks and other present day parasites behavior. I mean, if we’re talking dinosaurs and fleas for example …. fleas can be enticed to take blood from lizards, but they generally will not seek out reptiles in nature, probably because there’s little place for concealment. But, if dinosaurs had permanent or semi-permanent resting areas, then I would think these areas made ideal domains for flea larvae. So, it’s possible that a few flea larvae actually developed under the skin of dinosaurs, just as some do today on mammals.
And back then, fleas could have also possibly mechanically transmitted viruses to dinosaurs just as present day fleas do the myxomatosis virus of rabbits. I’m just guessing though.
It’s hard to determine if I could or not, but I told her yes because she already thinks I’m Super Mom.
ETA: this is the series she’s been watching on PBS.
https://youtu.be/i5cXQj80PxM