Hallucinating Dinosaurs. Yikes!

Something interesting was found in a chunk of 100 million year-old amber collected from a Malaysian mine by German paleontologist, Joerg Wunderlich.

From Live Science:

Millions of years before '___' and rock and roll, dinosaurs munched on psychedelic fungus, a new study suggests. The hints that dinos got high come from the first amber fossil ever found of ergot, a grass parasite that can have poisonous and mind-altering effects on animals that nibble the dark fungi.

Ergot provided the precursor to '___' (lysergic acid diethylamide). And people who eat ergot-contaminated rye (or other ergot-tainted grains) develop powerful muscle spasms and hallucinations. The phrase "St. Anthony's Fire" refers to both ergotism and the horrible burning feeling that ergot triggers by constricting blood vessels.

Now, it turns out that ergot has plagued grass-eaters since dinosaurs stomped the Earth.

Not a whole lot to add except that the thought of multi-ton sauropods tripping after eating ergot is pretty damn scary!

Wouldn't something as big as a Brontosaurus need a whole fields' worth just to feel any effects? Did they adjust to it so they didn't feel anything? S + F

originally posted by: Yeahkeepwatchingme
Wouldn't something as big as a Brontosaurus need a whole fields' worth just to feel any effects? Did they adjust to it so they didn't feel anything? S + F

That is a good question. Birds are often cited as modern descendants of dinosaurs and it looks like ergotism in birds has been studied extensively. A few sources I skimmed indicated that it's relatively easy for birds to ingest a lethal dose of ergot from contaminated grain. No mention of whether or not the birds wigged out but I'd assume that would be considered a party foul (fowl?)!

What do you say to a dinosaur if you meet one? High dino. If you do see one, maybe it is not the dinosaur that is high.

a reply to: theantediluvian

I can`t wait for the Jurassic movie, "Fear and Loathing in Jurassic Park" to come out now.

originally posted by: BornAgainAlien
a reply to: theantediluvian

I can`t wait for the Jurassic move, "Fear and Loathing in Jurassic Park" to come out now.

a reply to: theantediluvian

OH man! For a moment I thought you were hallucinating dinosaurs. Sorry.


Nice post. Lots of animals these days get high...nothing new. I guess that dinos were the original "heads" lol

I got prescribed an ergotamine for migraine once .... once.

Not fun if it all goes wrong. Imagine a sauropod freaked out on a bad trip.

So now we know the drug war killed them... DEA has time machines? Paradox!

But don't equate ergot to Lysergic Acid... derived from doesn't mean they are similar!

a reply to: Yeahkeepwatchingme

Wouldn't something as big as a Brontosaurus need a whole fields' worth just to feel any effects?

They had small brains. It didn't take much.

Wasted on brontosauri, though. They just wander around with their hands in the air like they're catching butterflies, get themselves molested by roadies and turn to Jesus after they come down.

a reply to: Astyanax

Hmm...I could say that about some humans I know. lol

a reply to: theantediluvian

Birds are dinosaurs, and that's about the coolest thing in the world. Dinosaurs never went extinct, or went away, or fossilized into "where'dtheygo?"ness. They are all around us, every day.

a reply to: theantediluvian

I wonder if the effects of massive quantities of ergot could have allowed birds to evolve, seeing as how very radical things come from the use of psychedelics, it could be thought that something as radical in an evolutionary sense had given the ancient dinosaurs the extra "brainroom" or "DNA probability" to allow them to evolve into more exotic species due to the ergot consumption. Not really a concrete theory but I could imagine that this would effect all animal life in some profound way. A whole planet on acid?! That's incredible.