Some of the finite aspect fashions evaluating chew efficiency throughout the 5 ornithischian dinosaurs within the research, with completely different fashions displaying completely different chew factors. Cooler colours (blue) characterize areas of low stress whereas scorching colours (pink and pink) point out areas which might be extremely pressured. Credit: David Button
Although most early dinosaurs had been vegetarian, there have been shocking variations in the way in which that these animals tackled consuming a plant-based food regimen, in line with a brand new research by scientists from the Natural History Museum and the Universities of Bristol and Birmingham.
Scientists used CT scans of dinosaur skulls to trace the evolution of early dinosaur herbivores—reconstructing jaw muscle mass and measuring the animals’ chew drive to grasp how dinosaur feeding advanced.
Five skulls from the plant-eating group Ornithischia supplied the important thing to unlocking their feeding habits: Heterodontosaurus, Lesothosaurus, Scelidosaurus, Hypsilophodon and Psittacosaurus—earliest representatives of what would turn into the key herbivore dinosaur teams.
Later ornithischian dinosaurs, like Triceratops and Stegosaurus, present a variety of diversifications to consuming vegetation, but their early family had not been examined correctly till now.
Publishing their findings within the journal Current Biology, the scientists reveal that the early “veggie” dinosaurs had advanced very alternative ways to deal with a food regimen of vegetation.
Heterodontosaurus seems to have had massive jaw muscle mass relative to its cranium measurement—producing a excessive chew drive, supreme for consuming robust vegetation. Scelidosaurus had an identical chew drive, however comparatively smaller jaw muscle mass in comparison with its cranium. However, these animals had a better total physique measurement and will obtain a robust chew. In distinction, the Hypsilophodon cranium did not have large…
2023-01-04 16:38:47 ‘Veggie’ dinosaurs differed in how they ate their meals
Link from phys.org