A first-of-its-kind pterosaur fossil unearthed in China with its gut content intact has revealed what the dinosaur-era flying reptile ate, settling a long-standing debate about whether its diet was plant or meat-based.
The pterosaur is considered the first vertebrate animal to achieve powered flight, but exactly what constituted the giant reptile’s diet has remained elusive.
Until now, most studies have theorised their diet mainly based on anatomical features revealed by fossils, such as the structure of their beak.
Some prior research has found partially digested food remains in pterosaur fossils, either within the stomach or the mouth, suggesting they ate fish and insects.
While a few species of the giant beast had beak shapes indicating they might have eaten plants, fruits, nuts, and seeds, direct evidence has been lacking.
Now, a new study, published in the journal Science Bulletin, provides the first direct evidence that pterosaurs also ate full meals consisting of plants.
The findings are based on an analysis of a well-preserved young pterosaur of the species Sinopterus atavismus, which grew up to a wingspan of two to four meters in adulthood.
The remains were unearthed at the famous Jehol Biota in northeastern China, a fossil site dated to about 145 million years ago to 100.5 million years ago.
Studies suggest this region was once home to several lakes and wetlands with nearby volcanoes that periodically blanketed the area in ash.
Researchers, including those from Beijing’s Chinese Academy of Sciences, found the pterosaur fossil with stomach remains containing an abundance of tiny plant cell particles.
These particles, called phytoliths, have previously been found in the stomachs of plant-eating dinosaurs, but never in pterosaurs before.
Since phytoliths were not found anywhere else in the immediate fossil site region, researchers concluded these particles originated from the pterosaur's stomach.
Scientists also found small stones called gastroliths inside the stomach remains of the giant reptile, which have been found in the guts of other herbivorous dinosaurs.
These tiny stones are well known to have aided plant-eating dinosaurs in digesting plant parts by grinding them in the gut.
Overall, researchers uncovered 320 phytoliths from inside the pterosaur specimen.
However, scientists have yet to determine the species of plants the pterosaur likely consumed.
"Phytolitholith morphologies in the stomach contents, with this high diversity, are nearly impossible to attribute to one single taxon based on the recent knowledge, which suggests that Sinopterus might have consumed a diverse range of plants,” they wrote in the study.
The findings conclude a long-standing debate that at least some species of pterosaurs ate full meals consisting only of plants.
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