Skip Navigation
Button that takes you to the Dinosaur Floor page.Button that takes you to the Earth Floor page.Button that takes you to the Resource Room page.Button that takes you to the Teacher's Lounge page.Button that takes you to the Elevator page.
     

Image that says Disease.

Image of two crocodiles.
Image © 1999 -www.arttoday.com)

Looking at Life Today
Modern reptiles are cousins to the dinosaurs. Crocodiles are among the most ferocious reptiles alive today.

Reptiles suffer from fewer diseases than warm-blooded animals, but reptiles do get sick. For example, an epidemic of Entamoeba invadens caused by the parasite amoebas swept through the London Zoo and killed a large number of reptiles and snakes. Many amphibians and reptiles have a gland, the Harderian gland, next to their eyes that washes excess salt out of their bodies. The glands form droplets sometimes called "crocodile tears." These glands can become infected, sometimes causing the animal to lose its sight. Snakes get blood parasites from tick bites.

Image of an emu.Many scientists think birds are the descendants of dinosaurs. This emu walks like bipedal ("two-footed") dinosaurs. Just imagine this bird with a longer tail, a tooth-filled mouth instead of a beak, and (maybe) no feathers; and you have a small-scale version of a T-Rex!

Birds suffer from many more diseases than reptiles. Chickens get a disease called Rous sarcoma, which causes tumors. Chickens and turkeys also suffer from diseases caused by parasites. One such disease, called Blackhead, spread from captive turkeys to wild heath hens in the eastern United States during the early 1900s.The heath hens had already been significantly reduced in number due to hunting and loss of habitat. Catching blackhead disease helped pushed them to extinction. Image © 1999 -www.arttoday.com

So, did dinosaurs get sick? Probably, yes--from the same kinds of diseases that make people sick.

Back | Next

 

 


Image that says Dinosaur Floor.
Button that takes you to the Giant Impact page.
Button that takes you to the Super Nova page.
Image that says Disease.
Button that takes you to the Volcanoes page.
Button that takes you to the Orbital Changes page.
Button that takes you to the Meet the Dinosaurs page.
Button that takes you to the Into the Future page.

Dinosaurs and Disease
Disease and More
Did Dinosaurs Ever Get Sick?
Image of a star. Looking at Life Today
Changing Landscapes
Going Going Gone

 

 
             
     
Button that takes you to the Exploring the Environment home page.

Dinosaurs and Disease | Disease and More | Did Dinosaurs Ever Get Sick? | Looking at Life Today | Changing Landscapes | Going Going Gone

Giant Impact | Super Nova | Disease | Volcanoes | Orbital Changes | Meet the Dinosaurs | Into the Future

  Image of a castle that links back to the MSESE home page.  
Button that takes you to the Dinosaur Floor page.Button that takes you to the Earth Floor page.Button that takes you to the Resource Room page.Button that takes you to the Teacher's Lounge page.Button that takes you to the Elevator page.

Site maintained by the ETE Team
Last updated on
April 28, 2005

Some images © 2004 www.clipart.com

Privacy Statement and Copyright © 1997-2004 by Wheeling Jesuit University/NASA-supported Classroom of the Future. All rights reserved.

Center for Educational Technologies, Circuit Board/Apple graphic logo, and COTF Classroom of the Future logo are registered trademarks of Wheeling Jesuit University.