Sue, the biggest 65 million year old dinosaur to have been found that now "lives" at the Field Museum, has been recently examined and found to have scars from a fatal sore throat. Originally, the tiny holes in Sue's jaw were thought to be battle scars. However, scientists have determined that a tiny single-celled parasite attacked Sue's throat and caused swelling that made her eventually die of starvation. This parasite (called trichomonosis) is still around today and has caused deaths of carnivorous birds like eagles, hawks, and osprey. Other dinosaur skulls have been examined, and similar holes have been found in a few. This disease is spread by eating the infected flesh of prey. Based on the holes in the other dinosaurs' skulls, the parasite that caused Sue's death had been around even earlier than Sue had been alive.
http://dailyme.com/story/2009092900003391/parasite-killed-sue-t-rexes.html
I'm so glad that you talked about this - I saw this in the news the other day, too!
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