Tokyo, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- An international research team recently reported in the new issue of the American journal Science Advances that they found a fossilized skeleton of a juvenile Gorganosaurus in the strata of the late Cretaceous period in Canada, with prey still remaining in its stomach. This is the first time that a dinosaur fossil of the Tyrannosauridae family has been found with stomach contents, providing direct evidence for the hypothesis that the feeding preferences of these large carnivorous dinosaurs changed with growth.
The Gorgonosaurus, also known as the Gorgonosaurus, was a large tyrannosaurus. Researchers from the University of Tsukuba in Japan and other institutions have unearthed the fossilized skeleton of a juvenile Gorgonosaurus in strata dating back about 75.3 million years in southern Alberta, Canada. The Gorgonosaurus was estimated to weigh about 335 kilograms, and bone tissue analysis showed that it was about 5 to 7 years old at the time of death. Traces of the hind limbs of two small dinosaurs less than a year old were confirmed in the abdominal cavity. The two dinosaur cubs are estimated to weigh between 9 and 12 kilograms. Depending on where they are in the stomach and how well they are digested, it can be speculated that they were preyed on by the Gorgonsaurus at different times.
The researchers say the findings suggest that juvenile Gorgonosaurus preyed on dinosaur cubs, and instead of devouring dates, they tore off more of their hind limbs to eat. Researchers believe that small dinosaurs were more suitable prey for juvenile Gorgonosaurus because of their large numbers and relatively low level of danger when hunting. When the Gorgonosaurus grew up, it was more efficient to hunt large herbivorous dinosaurs. This provides new evidence that the feeding properties of the Gorgosaurus changed as they grew and their status in the ecosystem.
Editor: Mu Xiaoxiang.