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‘Last meal' of sauropod fossil confirms dinosaur lived on plants
(NewsNation) — Scientists have long suspected that a group of dinosaurs known as sauropods subsisted on a diet of plants, but they had no evidence proving their theory.
Now they do.
Paleontologists in Australia have discovered a layer of plant matter in the stomach contents of a 36-foot-long juvenile sauropod. According to Smithsonian Magazine, the young Diamantinasaurus matildae was unearthed in 2017 in the Winton Formation, a geologic formation in central-western Queensland.
The fossil, nicknamed 'Judy,' was discovered by paleontologist Stephen Poropat of Curtin University and his colleagues. The scientists' subsequent findings about the animal's diet were published Monday in the journal Current Biology.
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'It's the smoking gun, or the steaming guts, as it were — the actual direct evidence in the belly of the beast,' Poropat told The New York Times.
The preserved plants, which survived in Judy's gut for at least 94 million years, consisted of material from conifers, flowering plants and extinct seed ferns, according to Smithsonian. The plants were mostly intact, suggesting that the massive dinosaurs, recognized for their long necks and tails, did not chew their food.
Poropat said in a Curtin University news release that the condition of the plant matter indicated that sauropods were 'bulk-feeders,' meaning that they swallowed their food whole, allowing their digestive systems to do the work of breaking the food down. The method, still used by some birds and reptiles today, allows a meal to last up to two weeks.
To confirm their long-held theory, Poropat and his colleagues had to show that the plants were not just random debris, Smithsonian reported. The fossil's well-preserved condition, including a layer of fossilized skin, indicated that the plants were inside the dinosaur's stomach when it died.
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A lack of plants anywhere near the excavation site also indicated that the plant matter came from inside the beast.
'Ever since the late 19th century, paleontologists have firmly regarded sauropods as herbivores,' Poropat said in the university release. 'However, the specific plants that they ate, and the height above ground at which they fed, have remained unknown — until now.'
The research findings have revealed that the eating habits of sauropods may have contributed to their longevity on Earth.
'Sauropods were remarkable animals that roamed the Earth for more than 130 million years. Understanding their diet is critical to understanding their impact on Earth's ecosystems — particularly on plants and other herbivorous species — throughout that time,' Poropat said.
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