[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date
Index][Thread Index][Subject Index][Author Index] Velociraptor
scavenged azhdarchid pterosaur From: Ben Creisler A new online
paper: David Hone, Takanobu Tsuihiji, Mahito Watabe, Khishigjaw
Tsogtbaatr (2012) Pterosaurs as a food source for small
dromaeosaurs. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
(advance online publication) Stomach contents preserved in
fossil specimens provide direct evidence for the diet of extinct
animals. Such exceptional fossils remain rare for predatory non-
avian dinosaurs and each can add significantly to our
understanding of trophic interactions between various taxa. Here
we present evidence for the dromaeosaurid theropod Velociraptor
scavenging on the carcass of an azhdarchid pterosaur, with a
long bone of the pterosaur being found as gut contents of the
dinosaur. Despite previous inferences of dromaeosaurs as hyper-
predators, scavenging appears to have been an important part of
their ecology.