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01/13/2008: "How great species die out"

Now the disease theory has gotten another boost, in the form of a book titled What Bugged the Dinosaurs, from the Princeton University Press. Authors George and Roberta Poinar (George is a zoologist at Oregon State University and a former World Health Organization consultant on infectious disease) specialize in ancient insects preserved in amber (a key plot element in the movie Jurassic Park) and also in fossilized dinosaur poop. Among other things in their lode, they've found ticks, nematodes, biting flies and all sorts of other nasties, including intestinal parasites, dating back to the Cretaceous period. From some of the insects, the Poinars have extracted microbes that cause leishmania and malaria — evidently new pathogens back then, against which dinosaurs wouldn't have had much resistance.

[ It's rarely a radical change, but a weakness exploited by parasites. Who are our parasites? They sell us things, they make laws that screw over sane people, and they encourage us to tolerate people who do not belong among us. When do we get rid of our parasites -- or do we perish? ]

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1702501,00.html?CNN+YES