We are what we eat. It indicates that this principle is accurate, even when the last meal takes place 150 million years ago.
No food for a long time, like those who have eaten it – dinosaurs. But information about their food preferences has been preserved in tooth enamel. The biologists carefully researched their teeth and found that some dinosaurs are easy -to -read seedlings: different species prefer different parts of the tree.
The enamel contains calcium isotopes that reflect the diversity of foods consumed by dinosaurs. Different plants leave different chemical signatures, moreover, even the individual parts of the tree – from the kidney to bark – may have unique features.
The results of the study were published in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. According to the geologist Liam Norris, the leading author of the article, they help explain how many giant creatures can coexist in the same area at the same time.
The ecosystem that I studied was still a mystery for a long time, because all these giant herbivores live at the same time. The idea is that they have eaten different foods – and now we have found this confirmation, Mitch Norris, who recently protected his doctorate at Jackson Gonaus University in Austin.
He studied the teeth of four types of dinosaurs and a crocodile creature – both herbivores and meat -eating animals – living in the west of the United States during the last Jurassic period. Among herbs with long Kamarazavr, Campraptoposaurus and short diploga with large legs. The predators include a legosaurus with two legs and an eutretretreturanosuchus, which is relatively small, similar to a crocodile. The bones and teeth of these ancient creatures were discovered in Carnegie's career in northeastern Utah, which was thought to be formed in a strong drought in a short time from six months to several thousand years.
We were very lucky to study the dinosaur's fossils, live together and were quickly buried in one place. The Jurassic Mo Mo still retains a unique ancient pearl, and these skeletons are perfectly represented in the National Dinosaur Memorial.
Norris, who is currently working in Texas's natural science and history, has studied the teeth of 17 individuals in this five categories. The samples are provided by Utah's natural history museum or are found directly in the National Dinosaur Memorial. He shaved a little yeast, which he brought to Jackson's school to analyze the calcium isotopes.
Previously, scientists believed that large herbic dinosaurs coexisted, eating trees at different levels of the crown, depending on their development. However, research on Norris shows that the height of the tree is not the only factor to determine the difference in their diet – the specific parts of the tree plays an important role.
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Camptosaurus, for example, can be called a gourmet – he likes the soft and nutritious parts of plants, such as leaves and kidneys. Kamarazavr has eaten mainly with needles, with an advantage of wood. The diploma adheres to a mixed diet, including soft ferns and horses near the ground, as well as harder parts of plants.
Such a division in the nutrition is suitable for logic with the morphology of these animals: different growth, different forms of muzzle. And now we added to this – a very specific evidence, Mr. Norris emphasized.
The results are beneficial for the flexibility of the long -Nenc neck, enough to collect food at different heights of the tree, without consuming energy for the movement of the whole body.
The isotope of the enamel of meat animals is similarly studied – that means a partially coincidental diet. But there is a difference: Eutretretauranosuchus, most likely eating fish, and Allosaur mainly hunts the grass -eating dinosaurs – may be the representative of the species mentioned above.
The fact that this ancient ecosystem can support a lot of big dinosaurs with such specific food hobbies that help better express the biodiversity and productivity of the vegetation at that time.
This is only another evidence that this ecosystem is as great as we think, Mr. Nors Norris concluded.