Pot Luck

Dinosaurs Ate Magic Grass Before It Was Cool, Source: Created for Weedist by Marisa Velázquez RivasScientists have been studying 100 million year old grass found in Myanmar, cased in amber. The fossilized grass was host to an extinct parasitic fungus similar to ergot, a fungus that has been known to induce hallucinations and body tremors (even death if the dose is high enough). For reference, LSD is a derivative of ergot.

Does that mean a brontosaurus could have eaten too much crazy-grass and tripped balls? The study’s lead author stated that he’s fairly certain that the infected grasses would have been eaten by sauropods, but that the actual effects the fungus may have had on them is unknown.

A study of the effects of ergot in modern reptiles and chickens (descendants of dinosaurs) suggests that they would not have responded too well. Ergot has lead to deadly spasms with reptiles and has installed odd mutations in chickens. But maybe the prehistoric biology of the dinosaurs or the nature of the ancient fungus itself were such that it didn’t cause as much of an issue. There really is no way of telling if the dinosaurs actively sought out the grasses specifically for their side effects or even if they would have affected the dinosaurs much at all.

But it’s a funny premise and does remind me of the theory that certain drug-aided, consciousness bending moments may have played key roles in our evolution. The late great comedian, Bill Hicks, had a whole bit about a simian creature unknowingly eating a hallucinogenic mushroom while simply looking for food and having it be a catalyst for evolution and a sort of wormhole of mental awakening. I’m not saying that enlightenment lies on the other side of a drug trip, I just think it’s an interesting concept to ponder.

While we can’t say with any certainty that dinosaurs purposely ate this grass because they wanted to get high, science also can’t prove definitively that they didn’t.

I can see the sitcom now. I’ll bet we could get Ashton Kutcher to play a hallucinating pterodactyl.

Categories: Consumption, Features, Pot Luck
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By: Raylan Campbell. Permalink: permalink Shortlink: http://weedi.st/zoXUM