by A unique pterosaur fossil fossil in China with intact intestinal contents showed what the flying reptile of the dinosaur era had eaten and has a long-standing debate about whether his diet was vegetable or meat-based.
The Pterosaurs is the first vertebrate to be driven.
So far, most studies have theorized their diet mainly on the basis of anatomical characteristics by fossils such as the structure of their beak.
Some earlier studies have found partially digested food residues in Pterosaur fossils, either in the stomach or in the mouth, which indicates that they have eaten fish and insects.
While some types of the huge animal had beak shapes that point out that they could have eaten plants, fruits, nuts and seeds, there were no direct evidence.
Fossils and replicas of a pterosaurs of the species “Tropoghus Mesembrinus” (AFP via Getty pictures)
Now a new study published in the journal Science bulletin, provides the first direct proof that Pterosaurs also ate fully from plants.
The results are based on an analysis of a well -preserved young Pterosaur of the species Sinopterus Atavism, which grew into a wingspan of two to four meters in adulthood.
The remains were discovered in the famous Jehol Biota in the northeast of China, a fossil location from about 145 million years ago to 100.5 million years.
Studies indicate that this region once housed several lakes and wetlands with nearby volcanoes that regularly covered the area in ash.
Researchers, including those from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, found that the Pterosaur fossil with stomach remains contained a wealth of tiny plant cell particles.
These particles, called phytoliths, were previously found in the stomach of vegetable dinosaurs, but never before in Pterosaur.
Since phytoliths were not found anywhere else in the immediate region of the fossil position, the researchers came to the conclusion that these particles came from the stomach of the Pterosaur.
Scientists also found small stones that were referred to as gastrolites in the stomach remains of the huge reptile and were found in the guts of other herbivorous dinosaurs.
These tiny stones are known to have herbivorous dinosaurs in digestion of plant parts by grinding them in the intestine.
In total, researchers discovered 320 phytoliths from the Pterosaur samples.
However, scientists still have to determine the plant species that the Pterosaur has probably consumed.
“Phytolith morphologies in stomach contents with this high diversity are almost impossible to attribute a single taxon based on the recent knowledge, which indicates that Sinopterus may have used a variety of plants,” they wrote in the study.
The results conclude a long -term debate that at least a few types of Pterosaurs ate with meals consisting of plants.
