We all know the Tyrannosaurus rex terrorised Triceratops on land. Many of us can picture Pterosaurs diving down from the skies to snatch smaller prey. A few might even know the Mosasaurus, the leviathan that ruled the ancient oceans. But while these mighty carnivores loom large in how we imagine the age of dinosaurs, there was a far greater threat that we forget – an invisible foe that would strike without warning and killed millions more creatures in the Mesozoic era than any other: illness.
It’s no surprise that dinosaurs got sick. They were living, breathing creatures just like us. But we know very little about what actual diseases made these ancient creatures ill. This is because you can identify signs of injuries like broken limbs and battle scars in the fossil record – often with little more than a magnifying glass –
