title: Multiple lineages of lice pass through the K-Pg boundary.
abstract: For modern lineages of birds and mammals, few fossils have been found that predate the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-Pg) boundary. However, molecular studies using fossil calibrations have shown that many of these lineages existed at that time. Both birds and mammals are parasitized by obligate ectoparasitic lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera), which have shared a long coevolutionary history with their hosts. Evaluating whether many lineages of lice passed through the K-Pg boundary would provide insight into the radiation of their hosts. Using molecular dating techniques, we demonstrate that the major louse suborders began to radiate before the K-Pg boundary. These data lend support to a Cretaceous diversification of many modern bird and mammal lineages.
authors.affiliation: The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.
authors.forename: Vincent S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.forename: Kevin P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Paul C D
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshizawa
authors.forename: Jessica E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Light
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000469:parasitology*; D005580:Fossils; D008322:Mammals / Q000469:parasitology*; D008003:Phthiraptera / Q000145:classification*