Dinosaurs were tormented by parasitic mites, new research suggests.Dave Martill of the University ofPortsmouth and his colleague PaulDavis used an electron microscopeto study a well-preserved, 120 mil-lion-year-old fossil feather. Thefeather was found in Brazil andlooks like a tail feather fromArchaeopteryx, a prehistoric birdthat evolved from the Jurassicgiants. The feather was covered withmore than 200-odd hollow spheresabout seven millimetres in diameter- the right size for mite eggs. "Birdsnot only inherited their feathersfrom the dinosaurs, but inheritedtheir feather parasites as well,"Martill concludes. He thinks the parasites were so painful that the animalhad probably plucked the featheritself (Nature, Vol 396, No 3142).