Paleontologists Unveil First Mammal-Eating Dinosaur Fossil

Paleontologists presented in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology the first known instance in the fossil record of “a dinosaur eating a mammal.”

These are remains from about 120 million years ago, which show little dinosaur a feathered creature known as a microraptor, with the animal’s leg inside its ribcage.

Dr David Hawn of Queen Mary University of London, the study’s first author, said: “It’s very rare to find examples of food in dinosaurs, so each example is really important as it provides direct evidence of what they ate.”

Although this mammal was not at all the ancestor of man, we can remember that some of our ancient relatives were eaten. dinosaurs hungry”.

“This study depicts an exciting moment in time – the first record of dinosaur eat a mammal – although it’s not as scary as anything in Jurassic Park, Hawn added, quoted by PA Media/dpa.

Hunters or scavengers?

Microraptors lived in the ancient forests of modern China between 125 and 113 million years ago. Although they walked on two legs, experts believe that some species may be capable of controlled flight. Microraptors the size of a crow or a small cat could fly from tree to tree to hunt small game.

Although the specimen was first described in 2000, the researchers noted that the previous team was unable to see the remains of another animal inside the specimen. dinosaur. Further analysis shows that the prey was a mouse-sized mammal, probably a land-dwelling, poor climber.

Previous studies have shown that other microraptor specimens have preserved food in their stomachs, such as bird, lizard and fish. However, the team added that it is not known for certain if these dinosaurs they fed directly on these animals or, if they found them already dead, they removed them.

Dr. Alex Desecchi of Mount Marty College in South Dakota, USA, and one of the authors of the study, said: “The good news is that, like your house cat, which was about the same size, the microraptor would be easy prey. An animal you can live with, but a horror if it comes out because it will prey on everything from the birds in your feeder to the mice in your hedge or the fish in your pond.”

(According to Europa Press)

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Fernando Carvallo selects information and shares his vision of national and international news. sign to our Las cosas newsletter, as they should be reading your daily columns.