Rare fossil discovery reveals new dinosaur species that specialized in eating fruit
Among the ravenous carnivores and lumbering herbivores that roamed the Cretaceous landscape, another kind of dinosaur was evolving that started to eat something else: the plants that began to flower and produce fruit. The discovery by paleontologists from Stony Brook University, Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and the North Dakota Geological Survey reveals that a new species, Infernogallus jamesi—a…
In a rare fossil discovery, scientists from Stony Brook University, Royal Ontario Museum, and the North Dakota Geological Survey have revealed a new dinosaur species that specialized in eating fruit. The species, Infernogallus jamesi, is a small oviraptorosaur that had chewing muscles for mashing soft food, making it the first known dinosaur to specifically eat fruit.
The unique chewing muscles were found in the skull of a nearly complete, articulated skull and partial skeleton, which were found in the Hell Creek Formation in the U.S. during the Cretaceous period. This discovery highlights the surprising adaptations dinosaurs may have developed in response to the evolution of flowering plants, which could have played a new ecological role as seed dispersers.
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