какие животные жили в эпоху динозавров
Динозавры оказались едой млекопитающих - Naked Science
Это крупнейшие из известных нам млекопитающих мелового периода. Внешне они напоминали крысу или куницу, причем некоторые виды достигали метровой ...
обнаружили
Принято думать, что до мел-палеогенового вымирания млекопитающие жили «в тени» динозавров, стараясь лишний раз не показываться тем на глаза. Однако в действительности многие млекопитающие, такие как репеномамы, уже тогда были активными и успешными хищниками. Некоторые охотились даже на динозавров: в середине 2000-х палеонтологи <anchor>обнаружили</anchor> окаменелые остатки репеномама с фрагментами мелкого ящера внутри. А недавно была сделана новая находка, показавшая, что эти млекопитающие могли охотиться и на динозавров, которые были заметно крупнее. Статья об этом опубликована в журнале Scientific Reports.
Large Mesozoic mammals fed on young dinosaurs | Nature
Large Mesozoic mammals fed on young dinosaurs \| Nature

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# Large Mesozoic mammals fed on young dinosaurs

- [Yaoming Hu](#auth-Yaoming-Hu-Aff1-Aff2-Aff3) [1](#Aff1), [2](#Aff2), [3](#Aff3),
- [Jin Meng](#auth-Jin-Meng-Aff2) [2](#Aff2),
- [Yuanqing Wang](#auth-Yuanqing-Wang-Aff1) [1](#Aff1) &
- …
- [Chuankui Li](#auth-Chuankui-Li-Aff1) [1](#Aff1)

Show authors

[_Nature_](/) **volume 433**, pages 149–152 (2005) [Cite this article](#citeas)

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## Abstract

Mesozoic mammals are commonly portrayed as shrew- or rat-sized animals that were mainly insectivorous, probably nocturnal and lived in the shadow of dinosaurs[1](/articles/nature03102#ref-CR1 "Bakker, R. T. Dinosaur physiology and the origin of mammals. Evolution 25, 636–658 (1971)"), [2](/articles/nature03102#ref-CR2 "Hopson, J. A. Endothermy, small size and the origin of mammalian reproduction. Am. Nat. 107, 446–452 (1973)"), [3](/articles/nature03102#ref-CR3 "Jerison, H. J. Evolution of the Brain and Intelligence (Academic, New York, 1973)"), [4](/articles/nature03102#ref-CR4 "Crompton, A. W., Taylor, C. R. & Jagger, J. A. Evolution of homeothermy in mammals. Nature 272, 333–336 (1978)"), [5](/articles/nature03102#ref-CR5 "Lillegraven, J. A. in Mesozoic Mammals: The First Two-thirds of Mammalian History (eds Lillegraven, J. A., Kielan-Jaworowska, Z. & Clemens, W. A.) 1–6 (Univ. California Press, Berkeley, 1979)"). The largest known Mesozoic mammal represented by substantially complete remains is _Repenomamus_ _robustus_, a triconodont mammal from the Lower Cretaceous of Liaoning, China[6](/articles/nature03102#ref-CR6 "Li, J.-L., Wang, Y., Wang, Y.-Q. & Li, C.-K. A new family of primitive mammal from the Mesozoic of western Liaoning, China [in Chinese]. Chin. Sci. Bull. 45, 2545–2549 (2000)"), [7](/articles/nature03102#ref-CR7 "Wang, Y.-Q., Hu, Y.-M., Meng, J. & Li, C.-K. An ossified Meckel's cartilage in two Cretaceous mammals and origin of the mammalian middle ear. Science 294, 357–361 (2001)"). An adult individual of _R. robustus_ was the size of a Virginia opossum. Here we report a new species of the genus, represented by a skeleton with most of the skull and postcranium preserved in articulation. The new species is 50% larger than _R. robustus_ in skull length. In addition, stomach contents associated with a skeleton of _R. robustus_ reveal remains of a juvenile _Psittacosaurus_, a ceratopsian dinosaur. Our discoveries constitute the first direct evidence that some triconodont mammals were carnivorous and fed on small vertebrates, including young dinosaurs, and also show that Mesozoic mammals had a much greater range of body sizes than previously known. We suggest that Mesozoic mammals occupied diverse niches and that some large mammals probably competed with dinosaurs for food and territory.

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**Figure 1: Holotype of _Repenomamus giganticus_ (IVPP V14155).**

![](//media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1038%2Fnature03102/MediaObjects/41586_2005_Article_BFnature03102_Fig1_HTML.jpg)

**Figure 2**

![](//media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1038%2Fnature03102/MediaObjects/41586_2005_Article_BFnature03102_Fig2_HTML.jpg)

**Figure 3: The postcranial skeleton of _R. robustus_ (IVPP V13605).**

![](//media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1038%2Fnature03102/MediaObjects/41586_2005_Article_BFnature03102_Fig3_HTML.jpg)

**Figure 4: Relationship between basal mammals with attached lower jaws to show their relative sizes (adopted from ref. 7)**

![](//media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1038%2Fnature03102/MediaObjects/41586_2005_Article_BFnature03102_Fig4_HTML.jpg)

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## Acknowledgements

We thank M.-M. Chang, Z.-H. Zhou, X.-L. Wang, X. Xu, F.-C. Zhang, Y. Wang, F. Jin and J.-Y. Zhang for help coordinating the research and fieldwork; X. Xu, X.-L. Wang, F.-C. Zhang, Z.-H. Zhou, and M. Norell for discussions on the research subject, and S.-H. Xie, S.-J. Li and A. Davidson for specimen preparation. This work was supported by funding from the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Y.H. is also supported by a fellowship from the American Museum of Natural History, through the City University of New York.

## Author information

### Authors and Affiliations

1. Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology & Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PO Box 643, 100044, China

Yaoming Hu, Yuanqing Wang & Chuankui Li

2. Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, 10024, New York City, USA

Yaoming Hu & Jin Meng

3. Biology Program, Graduate School and City College of New York, City University of New York, New York City, New York, 10016, USA

Yaoming Hu


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## Ethics declarations

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## Supplementary information

### [Supplementary Information Notes](https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fnature03102/MediaObjects/41586_2005_BFnature03102_MOESM1_ESM.doc)

This Supplementary Information text includes: (I) body mass estimation for two species of _Repenomamus_; (II) stomach content preparation and identification for _R. robustus_ (IVPP V 13605); (III) Data sources for Figure 4 (sizes of the lower jaws of representative Mesozoic mammals and relatives). The file contains six figures. (DOC 1625 kb)

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## About this article

### Cite this article

Hu, Y., Meng, J., Wang, Y. _et al._ Large Mesozoic mammals fed on young dinosaurs.
_Nature_ **433**, 149–152 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03102

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- Received: 29 May 2004

- Accepted: 08 October 2004

- Issue Date: 13 January 2005

- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03102


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## Editorial Summary

### Mammal bites dinosaur

We tend to think of the the mammals that lived in the shadow of the dinosaurs as scuttling around trying not to get eaten or trodden on. They were small, the size of a modern shrew or rat, feeding on insects, and active during evening hours. That picture is changing. The extinct mammal _Repenomamus robustus_, discovered five years ago, broke the mould: it was much bigger, the size of a Virginia opossum. And now another member of the genus _Repenomamus_ has been found that is half as big again, the size of a badger or jackal. What's more, a specimen of _R. robustus_ found preserved with its last meal inside its — stomach the bones of young dinosaurs. These carnivorous mammals were beginning to come out of the shadows.

show all

## Associated content

### [Living large in the Cretaceous](https://www.nature.com/articles/433116b)

- Anne Weil

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