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Scientists have discovered the last meal for an armor-plated dinosaur that existed 110 million years ago — a salad, basically.
What’s going on:
- Researchers published a study in the Royal Society Open Science journal on Wednesday that identified what a fossilized nodosaur, the Borealopelta markmitchelli, ate before its death.
- The researchers could examine the preserved stomach of the dinosaur, which is a rare feat.
- University of Saskatchewan geologist Jim Basinger said in a release:
“The finding of the actual preserved stomach contents from a dinosaur is extraordinarily rare, and this stomach recovered from the mummified nodosaur by the museum team is by far the best-preserved dinosaur stomach ever found to date.”
“When people see this stunning fossil and are told that we know what its last meal was because its stomach was so well preserved inside the skeleton, it will almost bring the beast back to life for them, providing a glimpse of how the animal actually carried out its daily activities, where it lived, and what its preferred food was.”
- The dinosaur’s final meal was fern leaves with some stems and twigs. So essentially a dinosaur salad. And the dinosaur’s stomach contained some charcoal — a sign it was “browsing in an area where ferns were regrowing after a fire,” according to CNET.
- The stomach’s contents revealed the dinosaur likely died in late spring to mid-summer because of the plants it had eaten.
Why it matters:
- According to the researchers, previous research showed seeds and twigs within the gut of dinosaurs. But there was little to no information about the types of plants. But this study gives a look at what eating habits meant for these dinos.
- Royal Tyrrell Museum palaeontologist Caleb Brown said: “This new study changes what we know about the diet of large herbivorous dinosaurs. Our findings are also remarkable for what they can tell us about the animal’s interaction with its environment, details we don’t usually get just from the dinosaur skeleton.”