Editing Parasitism (section)

=== Fossil record ===

{{further|Paleoparasitology}}

Parasitism is hard to demonstrate from the [[fossil record]], but holes in the [[mandible]]s of several specimens of ''[[Tyrannosaurus]]'' may have been caused by ''[[Trichomonas]]''-like parasites.<ref>{{cite journal |volume=4 |issue=9 |pages=e7288 |last=Wolff |first=Ewan D. S. |author2=Salisbury, Steven W. |author3=Horner, John R. |author4=Varrichio, David J. |title=Common Avian Infection Plagued the Tyrant Dinosaurs |journal=PLOS ONE |year=2009 |pmid=19789646 |pmc=2748709 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0007288|bibcode=2009PLoSO...4.7288W |doi-access=free }}</ref> ''[[Saurophthirus]]'', the Early Cretaceous [[flea]], parasitized [[Pterosauria|pterosaurs]].<ref>Ponomarenko, A.G. (1976) A new insect from the Cretaceous of Transbaikalia, a possible parasite of pterosaurians. ''Paleontological Journal''  10(3):339-343 (English) / ''Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal''  1976(3):102-106 (Russian)</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zhang|first1=Yanjie|last2=Shih|first2=Chungkun|last3=Rasnitsyn|first3=Alexandr|last4=Ren|first4=Dong|last5=Gao|first5=Taiping|date=2020|title=A new flea from the Early Cretaceous of China|url=http://www.app.pan.pl/article/item/app006802019.html|journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica|volume=65|doi=10.4202/app.00680.2019|doi-access=free}}</ref> Eggs that belonged to [[nematode]] worms and probably [[protozoa]]n [[cyst]]s were found in the Late Triassic [[coprolite]] of [[phytosaur]]. This rare find in Thailand reveals more about the ecology of prehistoric parasites.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Thanit Nonsrirach, Serge Morand, Alexis Ribas, Sita Manitkoon, Komsorn Lauprasert, Julien Claude|date=9 August 2023|title=First discovery of parasite eggs in a vertebrate coprolite of the Late Triassic in Thailand|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=18 |issue=8 |pages=e0287891 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0287891|pmid=37556448|pmc=10411797 |bibcode=2023PLoSO..1887891N |doi-access=free }}</ref>