According to a report recently published in Palaeodiversity, a hunk of amber excavated from a mine in Myanmar may indicate that dinosaurs in the Cretaceous Period fed on ergot, an early precursor to LSD. Heh heh heh heh / hrr rr / heh heh heh heh huh, indeed.
The half-inch by 0.2 inch amber relic preserved an 100-million-year-old grass spikelet topped by ergot fungus, with both specimens resembling modern species. (Although fossils suggest that grasslands likely didn’t appear until after the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period, grasses preserved in amber and dung indicate that dinos still found ample greens to graze on.)
George Poinar Jr., a zoology professor at Oregon State University, explained to LiveScience that the find “establishes for sure that grasses were in the Old World 100 million years ago” and that “psychedelic compounds were present back in the Cretaceous. What effect it had on animals is difficult to tell, but my feeling is dinosaurs [don’t you mean high-nosaurs, Professor?] definitely fed on this grass.”
For humans who unwittingly ingest ergo, the results can be deadly–consuming contaminated grains can cause hallucinations and muscle spasms, while the phrase “St. Anthony’s Fire” refers to ergotism and the burning sensation caused by constricting blood vessels. Considering the possibly unpleasant experiences grass-munching dinos may have had with early hallucinogens, perhaps it’s best that Jurassic World has such a strict no-drug policy:
Burt Macklin, undercover agent for the Dino Enforcement Administration. In charge of Operation Raptor Madness and preventing bad trips 65 million years in the making.
(via Geek.com)
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