The secret of survival for bird-like dinosaurs was simple: eating seeds. The reason behind the survival of the ancestors of modern birds has puzzled researchers for years, and a recent Canadian study of fossil dinosaur teeth may have provided the answer. According to a new hypothesis from dinosaur specialists at the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in Grand Prairie, Alberta, the seed diet helped dinosaurs with a toothless beak flourish, while those with more carnivorous tastes (and teeth!) perished when the asteroid hit Earth.
The team examined thousands of fossilized teeth and used dietary information and group relationships of modern-day birds to infer what their ancestors might have eaten. The researchers examined the shape of over 3,000 fossilized teeth, especially from the maniraptorans – small, bird-like dinosaurs that are thought to be predecessors of modern birds. The researchers then used information from modern birds to work backwards and determine that the surviving maniraptoran dinosaurs likely turned to seeds as a food source.
Authors:
Derek W. Larson, Caleb M. Brown, David C. Evans
Corresponding author:
Derek W. Larson, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto
Original research paper, published on April 21, 2016 in Current Biology.
