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Paleontologists in Canada have uncovered a first - of - its - kind fossilised meal after find dinosaur " drumsticks " in the belly of a " teenage tyrannosaurus . " The singular dodo are the first verbatim evidence that these apex predators switched up their diets from other years to adulthood , a fresh study show .
Researchers discovered the partial continue of the tyrannosaur — a group of magnanimous theropod dinosaur that includesTyrannosaurus rex — in 2009 within Dinosaur Provincial Park in southerly Alberta .
This is the first time that researchers have found prey fossils within a tyrannosaur’s stomach.
The finely save fossils belong toGorgosaurus libratus , which roll what is now Alberta and Montana between 76.5 million to 75 million years ago . These predator grew up to 29.5 feet ( 9 time ) long and weighed around 6,600 pounds ( 3,000 kilograms ) , according to an electronic mail financial statement from the researchers . The bone date back to 75 million years ago .
However , this individual belike only weighed up to 770 hammering ( 350 kg ) , suggesting it was somewhere between 5 and 7 years old when it died — equivalent to teenage year in humans , joint study chair authorDarla Zelenitsky , a palaeontologist at the University of Calgary , assure Live Science .
When the research worker analyzed the fossil , they discovered small toe castanets protruding from the tyrannosaurus ’s rib batting cage . Upon closer review , they found two stark pairs of modest hind legs where the predator ’s stomach would have been . The detached leg belong toCitipes elegans , a bird - like dinosaur the size of a dog , which were likely pluck clean off the unlucky creatures ' bodies .
Gorgosauruslikely rippedC. eleganslegs clean off and left the rest of its body.
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Scientists have previously found preserved quarry remainswithin the stomachs of other gist - eating dinosaursand thefossilized final meal of plant - based dinosaurs . But this is the first time anything has been found in the sand of tyrannosaurus , Zelenitsky said . This makes the new find " really exciting , " she added .
The researcher write their findings Dec. 8 in the journalScience Advances .
Juvenile tyrannosaurs have much smaller and slimmer skulls, which is likely why they target smaller prey than adults.
The fresh fossils have given researchers their first glance of " what was on the computer menu for juvenile tyrannosaur , " Zelenitsky allege . " Until now , we could only speculate . "
Teeth marks left behind on the target of grownup tyrannosaurs previously revealed that the adult predators hunted big prey , such asarmored herbivoresandduck - billed dinosaurs . However , the younger predator survive after smaller quarry , probable because jejune tyrannosaurs were much smaller and slender than adults , and had narrower skulls and jaw . This was previously theorize but has not been proved until now .
The fossilised repast also reveals Modern data aboutGorgosaurus ' target .
In this photo,Gorgosaurusrib bones are highlighted with green dots andC. eleganstoe bones are highlighted with red dots.
Until now , C. eleganswas only make love from fundament bones . The new fogy include the only known branch bones for the mintage and are also the " high quality fossils we have of this species , " Zelenitsky aver . The squad project to study the arm in greater detail in the time to come .
The tyrannosaur may have only eat the creatures ' wooden leg because they would have been the substantive , therefore most nourishing part of the bantam dinosaur , Zelenitsky tell . " Gorgosaurusteenagers clearly had an appetite for drumsticks , " she jest .
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Study lead authors Darla Zelenitsky (left) and François Therrien (right) next to the complete set of dinosaur fossils.
The research worker also mark that the two sets of legs were in unlike states of rot . " One pair was further back in the stomach and the other was further forward , " Zelenitsky say . The ones nearer the back come out to have been partly digested before theGorgosaurusdied .
By face at the decomposition of prey bones from modern reptile venter , the researchers betoken that the meals were consume within hours or twenty-four hour period of one another , suggesting that tyrannosaur teen had a level-headed appetite — perhaps unsurprising considering how heavy they grew .
C. eleganswas " probably an abundant prey item at the time , " but the juvenile vulture may have also eatenother small , bird - same dinosaurs , Zelenitsky said . " It is also potential that they could have been hunting anything pocket-sized than themselves , " she added .
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The researchers are diffident precisely whenGorgosaurusswitched from hunting diminutive prey to sizable herbivores , but Zelenitsky say it may have happened at around 10 to 11 years sometime , which is around halfway through aGorgosaurus’lifespan .
The team suspect that most other tyrannosaurs had interchangeable if not identical eating behaviors in their adolescent days . However , bigger species likeT. rexmay have switched to track down larger animals at an earlier age because they would already be monolithic enough to take down the bigger quarry .
