Super-sized fleas feed off dinosaurs
Primitive fleas were built to sup on dinosaur blood in the Jurassic period, more than 150 million years ago. The potential host–parasite relationship has been uncovered thanks to a set of beautifully preserved fossils found in China.
Engel and his co-authors studied nine flea specimens from two sites: the 165-million-year-old Jurassic deposits in Daohugou and the 125-million-year-old Cretaceous strata at Huangbanjigou, both in China. The insects were not quite like fleas as we now know them. Whereas modern fleas range from 1 to 10 millimetres in length, the Jurassic and Cretaceous species were between 8 and 21 millimetres. “These were hefty insects as far as fleas are concerned,” says Engel.
What those hosts were is another question. “The mouthparts are certainly overkill for piercing the hides of early mammals and birds,” says Engel. “It really appears as though they were specialized for working their way into some heavy hides, such as those on dinosaurs.”
http://www.nature.com/news/super-sized-fleas-adapted-to-feed-off-dinosaurs-1.10135
Thats a little over Three quarters of an inch of blood sucking bite....
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Creates the vision of them dressed up in cowboy hats and wearing masks using grappling hooks to climb up like the Fremen getting onto the sandworms in Dune. 