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New Evidence Reveals What Hungry Dinosaurs Were Actually Eating

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In 2000, the specimen was initially described, but later on, Professor Hans Larsson of McGill University in Montreal noticed something that others had overlooked – the remains of another animal were present within it.

For the first time, scientists in the UK have documented a case of a dinosaur consuming a mammal. However, don’t imagine a frightening Jurassic Park-style predator – it was likely a different scenario.

Scientists in the UK have found the first evidence that a dinosaur ate a mammal, but it wasn’t a scary predator like the ones in Jurassic Park.

The preserved remains of the small, feathered dinosaur Microraptor show the foot of a small mammal inside its ribcage.

The first confirmed case of a dinosaur eating a mammal is documented in a new research conducted by Dr. David Hone of Queen Mary University of London and published today in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Microraptor was a tiny, feathered dinosaur that roamed the ancient woods of what is now China during the Early Cretaceous Period, about 120 million years ago. The microraptor, which had long feathers on its arms and legs and was roughly the size of a crow, was probably gliding from tree to tree in search of small animals to eat.

New Evidence Reveals What Hungry Dinosaurs Were Actually Eating
New Evidence Reveals What Hungry Dinosaurs Were Actually Eating

Even though the fossil was first described in 2000, it wasn’t until many years later that Professor Hans Larsson of McGill University in Montreal saw what no one else had seen: the foot of an ancient mammal, which had been preserved between the ribs. They have now reported this further finding together with Dr. Hone and colleagues from Canada, the United States, and China.

The foot of the extinct mammal is almost intact and belongs to a very little species, around the size of a mouse living today. Analysis of the bones shows that it lived mostly on the ground and wasn’t very good at climbing. This makes it an interesting choice for Microraptor, which probably lived mostly in the trees.

In other Microraptor fossils that have been studied, scientists have found a bird, a lizard, and a fish. So, now that we know this dinosaur ate mammals, it is clear that it ate a variety of things and wasn’t just good at one thing. It’s not clear if the dinosaurs in question hunted and ate these animals or if they found them already dead and ate them (or a mix of both), but the size of the mammal fits with what would be expected for a predator the size of Microraptor.

The first evidence of mammal-eating dinosaur

Dr. Alex Dececchi from Mount Marty College, Dr. Corwin Sullivan from the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta, and Professor Xu Xing from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing are also co-authors of the paper with Dr. Hone.

Dr. David Hone from Queen Mary University of London, says, “It’s so rare to find examples of food inside dinosaurs so every example is really important as it gives direct evidence of what they were eating.

“While this mammal would absolutely not have been a human ancestor, we can look back at some of our ancient relatives being a meal for hungry dinosaurs. This study paints a picture of a fascinating moment in time – the first record of a dinosaur eating a mammal – even if it isn’t quite as frightening as anything in Jurassic Park.”

“The great thing is that,” adds Dr. Alex Dececchi, from Mount Marty College, “like your housecat which was about the same size, Microraptor would have been an easy animal to live with but a terror if it got out as it would hunt everything from the birds at your feeder to the mice in your hedge or the fish in your pond.”

Source: 10.1080/02724634.2022.2144337

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