CORVALLIS, Ore. – A perfectly preserved amber fossil from Myanmar has been found that provides evidence of the earliest grass specimen ever discovered – about 100 million years old – and even then it was topped by a fungus similar to ergot, which for eons has been intertwined with animals and humans. 
 
 Ergot has played roles as a medicine, a toxin, and a hallucinogen; been implicated in everything from disease epidemics to the Salem witch trials; and more recently provided the hallucinogenic drug LSD. 
 
 Apparently both ergot and the grasses that now form most of the diet for the human race evolved together. 
 
 And if they already seemed a little scary, imagine a huge sauropod dinosaur that just ate a large portion of this psychotropic fungus, which in other animal species can cause anything from hallucinations to delirium, gangrene, convulsions or the staggers. The fungus, the grasses it lived on and dinosaurs that ate grass co-existed for millions of years. 
 
 The findings and analysis of this remarkable fossil were just published online in the journal Palaeodiversity, by researchers from Oregon State University, the USDA Agricultural Research Service and Germany. 
 
 “It seems like ergot has been involved with animals and humans almost forever, and now we know that this fungus literally dates back to the earliest evolution of grasses,” said George Poinar, Jr., an internationally recognized expert on the life forms found in amber and a faculty member in the OSU College of Science. 
 
 “This is an important discovery that helps us understand the timeline of grass development, which now forms the basis of the human food supply in such crops as corn, rice or wheat,” Poinar said. “But it also shows that this parasitic fungus may have been around almost as long as the grasses themselves, as both a toxin and natural hallucinogen. 
 
 “There’s no doubt in my mind that it would have been eaten by sauropod dinosaurs, although we can’t know what exact effect it had on them.” 
 
 Amber begins as a tree sap that can flow around small plant and animal forms and permanently preserve them, as it fossilizes into a semi-precious stone. Poinar is a world leader in examining such specimens and using them to learn more about prehistoric ecosystems. 
 
 The fungus in this grass specimen, which is now extinct, was named Palaeoclaviceps parasiticus. It’s very similar to the fungus Claviceps, commonly known as ergot. The fossil, taken from amber mines in Myanmar, dates 97-110 million years ago to the early-to-mid Cretaceous, when the land was still dominated by dinosaurs and conifers, but the earliest flowering plants, grasses and small mammals were beginning to evolve. The fossil shows a grass floret tipped by the dark fungus. 
 
 Much later in evolution, grasses would become a powerful life form on Earth, creating vast prairies, nourishing herds of animals, and eventually providing for the domestication of range animals and the cultivation of many food crops. The rise of crop agriculture changed the entire development of the human race, and it’s now estimated that grasses compose about 20 percent of global vegetation. 
 
 Researchers also noted in their report that “few fungi have had a greater historical impact on society than ergot.” 
 
 Some grasses have natural defense mechanisms, and ergot may be one of them, helping to repel herbivores. It’s bitter and not a preferred food to livestock, and it’s still a problem in cereal and grass seed production, as well as pastures and grazing land. 
 
 In animal and human history, the fungus has been known to cause delirium, irrational behavior, convulsions, severe pain, gangrenous limbs and death. In cattle it causes a disease called the “Paspalum staggers.” In the Middle Ages it sometimes killed thousands of people during epidemics when ergot-infected rye bread was more common. It’s been used as a medicine to induce abortion or speed labor in pregnant women, and one researcher – whose findings have been disputed – suggested it may have played a role in the Salem witch trials. 
 
 More than 1,000 compounds have been extracted or derived from it, some of them valuable drugs. They also included, in the mid-1900s, the powerful psychedelic compound lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD, that is still being studied and has been widely used as an illegal recreational drug. 
 
 Ergot is strange. And a very, very old fossil now makes clear that it’s been around about as long as grass itself. ||||| Were dinosaurs tripping balls on LSD fungus? 
 
 by Brett Smith 
 
 Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online 
 
 As we saw in Jurassic Park, fossilized tree sap, or amber, has a way of capturing and preserving all kinds of ancient things. According to a new report, though, a recently discovered specimen contains both evidence of the earliest grass specimen ever discovered and ergot, the fungus used to make LSD. 
 
 This fungus-covered grass was around during the reign of the dinosaurs, and raises the question of whether or not they were tripping balls while grazing. 
 
 The study, published in the journal Palaeodiversity, also noted that the discovery provides evidence that grasses and ergot evolved together and played a major role in society as we know it along the way. 
 
 “It seems like ergot has been involved with animals and humans almost forever, and now we know that this fungus literally dates back to the earliest evolution of grasses,” said George Poinar, Jr., a paleontologist at Oregon State University. 
 
 “This is an important discovery that helps us understand the timeline of grass development, which now forms the basis of the human food supply in such crops as corn, rice or wheat,” Poinar continued. “But it also shows that this parasitic fungus may have been around almost as long as the grasses themselves, as both a toxin and natural hallucinogen.” 
 
 Far out, man 
 
 Ergot has been linked to both the development of certain drugs and the Salem witch trials, but it’s probably best known for the psychedelic effects found in LSD. Its effects aren’t limited to humans either as animals that consume the fungus have been seen staggering, hallucinating, delirious, convulsing, and even developing gangrene. 
 
 Imagine a giant like Brachiosaurus whacked out of its brain, stumbling around and leaving a trail of destruction behind it. 
 
 “There’s no doubt in my mind that it would have been eaten by sauropod dinosaurs, although we can’t know what exact effect it had on them,” Poinar said. 
 
 According to the study, the amber fossil holds a grass floret topped by a dark fungus named Palaeoclaviceps parasiticus, a relative of ergot. The specimen was pulled from amber mines in Myanmar and dates to between 97 and 110 million years ago. During this time, dinosaurs and conifers dominated and the very first flowering plants, grasses and small mammals were just starting to evolve. 
 
 Millennia later, grasses would turn into a robust life form on Earth, producing vast prairies, feeding herds of animals, and ultimately making way for the domestication of early livestock and the farming of crops, altering the entire progression of the human race. Current estimates state that grasses produce approximately 20 percent of global vegetation. 
 
 Defense mechanism? 
 
 The study team said that a few grasses have normal defense mechanisms, and theorized that ergot could be among them, assisting in the repulsion of herbivores. The fungus is bitter and a problem in cereal and grass seed creation, along with providing complications in pastures and grazing land. 
 
 However, ergot has been utilized as a medicine to cause abortion or accelerate labor in pregnant women. According to one controversial study, it may have also played a part in the Salem witch trials. In the middle of the 20th century, the fungus was used to make the psychedelic compound known as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). 
 
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– If you're glad you weren't on the planet in the days when Stegosaurus was whipping its spiked tail around in agitation, imagine the dino stumbling around with its eyes ablaze on the prehistoric equivalent of an acid trip, courtesy of newly discovered fungus-tipped grass. A perfectly preserved, 100-million-year-old amber fossil found in Myanmar—the oldest grass fossil ever found—had a parasitic fungus clinging to its tip that's similar to ergot, the hallucinogen linked to the Salem witch trials, disease epidemics, and most recently, the development of LSD. Researchers at Oregon State University report in the latest issue of the journal Palaeodiversity that it's the oldest evidence to date that some of the planet's first grasses, as well as the dinosaurs and parasites that fed on them, coexisted. The dark fungus clinging to the grass floret is called Palaeoclaviceps parasiticus and is a relative of ergot. The sample dates back to a time when dinosaurs and conifers dominated the landscape, and grasses and small mammals were just beginning to evolve, reports redOrbit. One theory is that fungi like ergot developed alongside grass as a defense mechanism, resulting in a foul taste that might ward off happily grazing herbivores. Whether this particular fungus would have had a hallucinogenic effect on dinosaurs remains unclear—after all, dose matters, and some of these creatures were huge—but the researchers say this much is now evident: Ergot-like fungus has been around as long as grass itself. (Just last year a family in Florida was hospitalized after eating LSD-laced meat from Walmart.)