What Bugged the Dinosaurs?: Insects, Disease, and Death in the Cretaceous

by George O. Poinar Jr., Roberta Poinar

Millions of years ago in the Cretaceous period, the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex--with its dagger-like teeth for tearing its prey to ribbons--was undoubtedly the fiercest carnivore to roam the Earth. Yet as What Bugged the Dinosaurs? reveals, T. rex was not the only killer. George and Roberta Poinar show how insects--from biting sand flies to disease-causing parasites--dominated life on the planet and played a significant role in the life and death of the dinosaurs.


The Poinars bring the age of the dinosaurs marvelously to life. Analyzing exotic insects fossilized in Cretaceous amber at three major deposits in Lebanon, Burma, and Canada, they reconstruct the complex ecology of a hostile prehistoric world inhabited by voracious swarms of insects. The Poinars draw upon tantalizing new evidence from their amazing discoveries of disease-producing vertebrate pathogens in Cretaceous blood-sucking flies, as well as intestinal worms and protozoa found in fossilized dinosaur excrement, to provide a unique view of how insects infected with malaria, leishmania, and other pathogens, together with intestinal parasites, could have devastated dinosaur populations.


A scientific adventure story from the authors whose research inspired Jurassic Park , What Bugged the Dinosaurs? ? offers compelling evidence of how insects directly and indirectly contributed to the dinosaurs' demise.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Nature, Dinosaurs, History

280 pages, Hardcover

First published December 17, 2007

About the author

George O. Poinar Jr. is an American entomologist and writer. He is known for popularizing the idea of extracting DNA from insects fossilized in amber, an idea which received widespread attention when adapted by Michael Crichton for the book and movie Jurassic Park.

Poinar earned a BS and MS at Cornell University, and remained there for his doctoral studies, receiving a PhD in biology in 1962. He spent many of his years of research at University of California, Berkeley in the Department of Entomology, Division of Insect Pathology. There, and during travels around the globe, he performed research on the axenic culture of nematodes, nematode parasites of insects and the fossil records of insects and nematodes in amber.

Reviews

[Corinna Bechko · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to find books about what extinct ecosystems were actually like, so it was refreshing to discover one that looked at dinosaurs (and other Mesozoic creatures) from the perspective of the parasites that lived on, in, and near them. A lot of the conclusions were by necessity speculative, but I was surprised to learn just how much we could gather from amber inclusions, bone fragments showing signs of disease, and plant fossils. A lot of this book does revolve around some pretty nasty parasites (eye worms, anyone?) so do be aware of your surroundings while reading. I spent several hours on an airplane with this open on my lap. At one point the person next to me peeked over, did a double take, and spent the rest of the flight with her eyes closed. Sorry seat mate, the natural world isn't always pretty even when it's interesting.

[Susan Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors study insects caught in amber from the Cretacious period. They have been able to determine that many of these insects - mosquitos, lice, ticks, etc. - carry pathogens as do the insects of today. Their premise is that these pathogens adversely affected the health of dinosaurs and left many in a weakened position as far as being able to resist a tragedy like the meteors that impacted the earth. The book contains many illustrations and color plates of these insects captured in amber. The idea and proofs are quite interesting and it is easy to see how the dinosaurs were left vulnerable to stress.

[jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book provides fascinating insights, and much speculation, as to the interaction of dinosaurs, with the factors described in the title. The nature of the catchy title is a bit misleading, as it is definitely not for the general interest reader. Nevertheless, and in the last few chapters in particular, it conveys what seems like a much more nuanced picture of what life in the Cretaceous must have been like than the typical "gee whiz" dinosaur book.

[Daniel Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book explores how insects affected (or could have affected) dinosaurs. Each of the 20-something chapters begins with an engaging if speculative scenario - baby hadrosaurs eating termites, blowflies congregating around dung, etc. - that illustrates on a micro-level what interaction could have looked like. Most of the chapters then focus on particular arthropod groups. This includes the fossil evidence, how they affect vertebrates today, and what we can infer about relationships with dinosaurs. The first few chapters are more about ecology, and the last few chapters are more about extinction and K-T population dynamics.

Honestly, I don't think about parasitism and competition for plant material very much, so this book was really eye-opening! After looking at all the ways that insects make vertebrate life hell, it's a wonder that anything made it this far.

[Library Of Pangea · Rating 5 out of 5]

George Poinar Jr is an essential resource for those interested in the fossil record of fungi, the Poinars do an excellent job of introducing the complexity of ancient ecosystems and paint a vidid picture of the roll fungi (and insects) have. This book is not only informative but beautifully written.

[Brandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Think pandemic but in dinosaurs. Poinar and Poinar do a great job of painting a picture of how dinosaurs were probably affected by bugs and the diseases likely spread by them. A great book for anyone interested in dinosaurs.

[Carolyn Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dense with information, but interesting

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book immensely. Of course you need to be into the subject matter to really get into it, me digging entomology and paleontology. Too often books on the mesozoic give a very sterile view of what it was like, as if the world is a contrived museum diorama with perfectly formed cycads , a picture perfect swamp and strategically place tyrannosaurs, triceratops, duckbills etc. all within a few feet of each other. Reading this book gave a better appreciation of the distinct and complex ecology of the period. Imagining dinosaurs in various diseased states, infested with flies and parasites, with a background of yellowing, half eaten flora brought the mesozoic to life, like seeing a fly infested herd of antelopes and a pack of lions on the African plains.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Poinars bring together much fossil and other information to describe the changing ecology and relationships among dinosaurs, plants, and insects during the Cretaceous. The book is quite accessible and concludes with several chapters bringing the information and speculation into focus. Most chapters open with a descriptive piece imaging what the interactions may have been among these organisms. The Poinars bring the Cretaceous to life and connect it to our modern times. An excellent read for all interested in ecology, insect vectors, dinosaurs and more.

[Jby · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book suffers from a bit too much speculation. IMO the number and quality of the fossils is awesome enough, no need to speculate on whether insect borne disease added to the dinosaur extinction.

I would have been very interested in the process of finding the insect containing amber. Most of the finds appear to be from Burma. Getting at those must have been an adventure in itself.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fascinating idea but poorly executed. The interesting science of finding insects and evidence of disease is relegated to the last few chapters that one is forced to wade through a set of mediocre descriptions of various infectious diseases to get to. Also, the title does detract slightly from the serious aim of the work and makes it somewhat harder to read with dignity in public.

[Brynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strains to achieve book length. Tons of supposition and other padding.