Spec-Dinovember Day 23: Dino-mite, an ectoparasite of a Mesozoic host group

Sanguinornis minutus is an odd pengornithid. It has the largest teeth and is the smallest member of its family, both are in service of its specialized diet. S. minutus is a hematophage, feeding upon the blood of larger dinosaurs. Their primary hosts are hadrosaurs, but they are not picky. This lifestyle began with an ancestor opportunistically feeding upon the bugs and dead skin of the larger dinosaurs. Occasionally one would peck just a little too hard and break the skin only to find a protein packed liquid snack in the blood which issued forth. In removing existing parasites, these birds have become one of their ranks.

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So, this is obviously a play on vampire bats (Desmodus sp.), but cool thing is there are a handfull of extant birds that are blood feeders! vampire finches (Geospiza difficilis) are the closest to full-on obligate hematophages, but what I find really cool is oxpeckers (Buphagus sp.) are an extant example of the transition from parasite-cleaners to blood drinkers. I went with a pengornithid because there was a study that concluded their tail feathers were stiffened and thus they may have used them as a prop like woodpeckers do. The conclusions reached by that have been questioned and are currently regarded to be in error. But I figured it was as good a group of Mesozoic birds as any so I rolled with it. A tail prop would probably be helpful in holding onto the sides of a hadrosaur given how they tend to be tall and narrow bodied.