Science & Technology, Canada (Commonwealth Union) – The Microraptor continues to fascinate archeologists and dinosaur enthusiasts alike. Microraptors are from the Dromaeosauridae family which are feathered theropod dinosaurs known for their four-wings.
New findings have noted that preserved gut contents of Microraptor demonstrate that the species had a variety in its diet than previously assumed. A team of global researchers have seen new evidence of a dinosaur eating a mammal.
The foot of a small mammal roughly the size of a mouse was discovered preserved in the stomach region of a Microraptor zhaoianus, according to new findings appearing in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. This discovery is only the 2nd specimen ever seen indicating certain dinosaurs consumed mammals.
Corwin Sullivan, associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, from the University of Alberta who is also curator of the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in Wembley, Alta., and co-author of the paper indicated that it is extremely rare to see conclusive evidence of a dinosaur diet as its hard to find a dinosaur’s gut contents preserved
“There was always interest in [Microraptor’s] diet because there had been previous specimens that contained remains of different vertebrates inside the rib cage, but we have the first one that contains parts of a mammal,” he said.
Many factors need to line up for the dinosaur gut components to be preserved, according to Sullivan., 1st of all, the specimen requires a reasonably complete skeleton which is rare in and of itself, specifically for small, delicate animals such as the Microraptor.
The dinosaur needs to have eaten something recently enough prior to its death that the remnants stayed in the stomach when the burial took place and whatever was consumed needs preservation potential, which is linked to the presence of bones or other hard parts. The possible dinosaur dietary items such as leaf matter or flesh would most certainly decay as they are fossilized.
“Those things all have to come together — you need to be lucky enough to find not just an intact individual, but an individual that ate a meal including hard parts within a reasonably short time before its death,” explained Sullivan.
The Microraptor was seen in the Early Cretaceous Lake deposits which is presently northeast China. The location is quite well suited to exceptional preservation, according to Sullivan, having the possibility to capture a variety of fine details that may not have been properly preserved in other areas.
“We have intact skeletons of things that are quite small, like Microraptor, and there’s the potential to preserve them well enough that you get things like gut contents, as in our specimen, and in some cases even soft tissue.”
Prior Microraptor specimens from this location have been discovered with gut contents of a fish, bird and lizard, demonstrating that these small dinosaurs had a dietary variety. But it is still not certain if Microraptor consumed the contents as a predator or a scavenger. Researchers can only conclude that the Microraptor was carnivorous.
“Because Microraptor seems to have been fairly abundant and inhabited this environment where preservation in lake deposits was a possibility, we have a lot more evidence about its diet than we do for many of the dinosaurs we have here in Alberta, for example,” said Sullivan.
The research was led by David Hone of Queen Mary University of London, which partnered with other researchers from Canada, America and China.
This latest discovery in relation to the Microraptor is likely provide another piece of the puzzle in getter a clearer picture not just of the Microraptor but other similar species as well. Other research on dinosaurs has indicated that they have adapted their diets according to what was available to them.
