Dinosaurs Found to Have had Massive Fleas with "Beaks" the Size of a MEDICAL SYRINGE

[polyhistor]

[QUOTE=lapsus_;39504983]Yes, they were at least 10 times the size of their modern descendants.
Some grappled to dinosaurs with strong and long back legs, making them look like reversed crabs.[/QUOTE]

And now we know why someone had the (good) idea to smash an asteroid into the earth.

[pr00ch]

I feel the urge of washing my skin with a scouring pad

[NoDachi]

So you're saying Cloverfield actually made a little sense?

[Holt]

Death by asteroid was too good for these bastards.

[Breen]

[QUOTE=Tomthetechy;39505659]Death by asteroid was too good for these bastards.[/QUOTE]

Until we find one trapped in amber, Clone it and oh god....

[Zero-Point]

[QUOTE=TurtleeyFP;39503389]Oh god. If insects and other arachnids were huge back then, imagine 4 foot tall spiders chasing you through a jungle...
I don't want to visit dinosaurs anymore.[/QUOTE]

Prehistoric spiders were *only* the size of a football. :eng101:

[長門有希]

isn't it great that we're stuck in this time period and this planet for the rest of our lives

[lapsus_]

I found the picture again btw:
[img]http://bogleech.com/nature/flea-strashila.jpg[/img]

[Francisco]

[QUOTE=MIPS;39502379]

Are you sure you want to overwrite Nope.avi - copy (9999)?

[/QUOTE]

[Drewsko]

[QUOTE=imptastick;39504968]This reminds me of "The beginning of the end" when all those giant grasshoppers where attacking

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeJrGcfEiIc[/media][/QUOTE]

And for the MSTies in the audience:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWTHO45xp00[/media]

Yeah. It's funny to think about how horrifying it would be in real life compared to how goofy these movies make it out to be.

[cecilbdemodded]

Imagine the size of a tapeworm inside a Brontosaurus, it probably makes an anaconda look like a nightcrawler in comparison.

[im not iRunner]

I think they're "mosquitos", not fleas

[Blazyd]

[QUOTE=lapsus_;39507765]I found the picture again btw:
[img]http://bogleech.com/nature/flea-strashila.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]

what the...

Yeah I'm never time travelling to that time. Unless I had full body protective gear from that god awful scorpian-fly thing or whatever the fuck that is

[a dumb bear]

Well thank fuck they all got wiped out nasty fucks

[Jorori]

[QUOTE=RoadOfGirl;39503040]How could they be so large? Not the fleas, but the other insects being referenced here, as my understanding is due to their exoskeletons most insects simply couldn't grow much larger than they are in current times.[/QUOTE]

When birds first evolved (Late Jurassic) they created a lot of ecological pressure over (mostly flying) insects, who were forced to adapt and become much smaller. Other flying tetrapods like pterosaurs didn't have the maneuvering capabilities birds had, so that's why it didn't happen before.

[Daniel Smith]

Time to take Jurasic off my list of time travel periods

[Jorori]

[QUOTE=lapsus_;39507765]I found the picture again btw:
[img]http://bogleech.com/nature/flea-strashila.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]

The abdomen of that thing looks exactly like the one of a female trilobite beetle:

[IMG]http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/4610/7594733882d56225fc6cz.jpg[/IMG]

Gotta love convergent evolution.

[Cataclysmic_47]

[QUOTE=theevilldeadII;39503412]now think an ARMY OF THEM[/QUOTE]

Who are you trying to be, The Queen of Blades or something?

[mzathemind]

The crocs from back then could easily snack on 1 or 2 from today no thanks.