According to a rare fossil discovered in China, it is possible that mammals hunted plant-eating dinosaurs millions of years ago. Due to the fact that it depicts two animals in a dynamic situation, the fossil found in northeastern China is unusual. Before being unexpectedly buried alive by a volcanic eruption, both animals were engaged in deadly conflict. According to Reuters, the dinosaur Psittacosaurus lujiatunensis, which was as large as a medium-sized dog, was viciously entangled with the four-legged animal Repenomamus robustus, which was the size of a domestic cat.
The fossil is believed to be 125 million-year-old
The 125 million-year-old spectacular fossil suggests that the Mesozoic era food web was significantly more intricate than previously believed. According to popular opinion, larger dinosaurs would always hunt and devour smaller mammals. Today, that theory is being contested. “Here, we have good evidence for a smaller mammal preying on a larger dinosaur, which is not something we would have guessed without this fossil,” said paleobiologist Jordan Mallon of the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa. “I think what’s key here is that Mesozoic food webs were more complex than we had imagined,” Mallon added.
“There have been specimens of carnivorous dinosaurs preying on plant-eating dinosaurs before, but there has never been an example of a mammal preying on a dinosaur,” said Canadian Museum of Nature palaeontologist and study co-author Xiao-chun Wu. Experts emphasised the significance of the discovery by pointing out that this was the first fossil to show a mammal consuming a dinosaur. “There have been specimens of carnivorous dinosaurs preying on plant-eating dinosaurs before, but there has never been an example of a mammal preying on a dinosaur,” said Canadian Museum of Nature palaeontologist and study co-author Xiao-chun Wu.
Prior research suggested that Repenomamus was a carnivorous predator
An early member of the horned dinosaur family called Psittacosaurus lacked facial horns and a head crest. Instead, it had a beak resembling that of a parrot, which it utilised to devour plant matter. One of the largest animals living during the dinosaur era, the Repenomamus, had short, sprawling limbs, a long tail, a sinuous body, a strong head, and shearing teeth. Its look was matched to that of a Chinese ferret-badger by palaeontologist Mallon. Prior research suggested that Repenomamus was a carnivorous predator. The stomach contents of a Repenomamus specimen in one fossil find from the same area revealed the presence of infant Psittacosaurus bones, demonstrating its dino-eating tendencies.