A rare find - First trace of a dinosaur eating a mammal

[Denis Arcand]

This is a rare find of dinosaur remains preserved with its last meal.

Of the hundreds of skeletons of carnivorous dinosaurs discovered to date, only 20 cases retained traces of their last meals. This discovery made during a visit to museum collections in China brings their number to 21.

 

https://www.mcgill.ca/science/channels/news/other-paleo-diet-rare-discovery-dinosaur-remains-preserved-its-last-meal-344495

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2022.2144337

 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by Denis Arcand

[connorp]

Photo of the mammal foot from the article:

 

Very cool!

[Maniraptora]

Microraptor is starting to give the impression of a bird of prey with more... sharpness. What an exciting discovery!

 

I do wish they had gone with iridescent black plumage in the press image. Although studies on fossil melanosomes can't provide total certainty on animals' color in life, they're a great starting point for paleoartists.

Link for those curious: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/microraptor-was-a-glossy-dinosaur-119691559/