When Did Ticks Start? Origins, Fossils, and Evolution
Ticks are ancient blood-feeding arachnids. Scientists cannot identify one exact moment when they first appeared. The oldest confirmed tick fossils date to roughly 100 million years ago, during the Cretaceous Period. Feathered dinosaurs and early birds lived alongside diverse reptiles and mammals at that time. The fossil record places recognizable ticks in the Cretaceous. Genetic…