HONG KONG: Scientists recently discovered a 100-million-year-old fossil that contains one of the earliest forms of grass on Earth. What’s remarkable about this very early grass is that on the very tip of it was a parasitic fungus that clung to it. The fungus has been linked to the hallucinogen that’s responsible for the development of LSD, but is also known for its connection to the Salem witch trials as well as epidemics. Yeah, it’s serious stuff.
So while everyone’s like, “But wait, our dinosaur friends were tripping?” scientists were actually more interested in the fact that dinosaurs walked on some of the very first grasses on our planet. Also interesting to them was the reason why the grass would have sported a parasitic fungus in the first place. Currently, one theory suggests the fungus actually developed at the same time as the grass and served as a kind of defense mechanism. The fungus, which tastes bitter, likely protected the grass from those monstrous herbivores.
Back to everyone else’s question: We don’t actually know if dinos ever experienced the hallucinogenic effects (bummer) because, of course, we know that when it comes to drugs, size matters. But, we do know that the substance they were chomping very well should have caused hallucinations, so perhaps the tinier herbivores of the time were just out of their minds. Just a thought.
