Hans Larsson, a vertebrate paleontologist from McGill University (Canada), discovered a rare micro-raptor fossil while examining samples in museum collections in China.
Inside the ancient reptile, the remains of its last meal were well preserved, the publication reported. ScienceAlert Unexpectedly for Larsson’s team, the stomach of the microraptor contained a tiny – about one centimeter – foot of a mammal. Possibly a rodent.
According to the researcher, it was hard to believe. After all, it was previously known that these small dinosaurs only fed on birds, fish, and lizards.
Universal predator
So who are the microraptors? This is what researchers named the small winged dinosaurs that lived in ancient forests in what is now modern-day China 130-125.5 million years ago. The reptiles weighed no more than a kilogram. With their long tails, they barely reached 83 centimeters. Therefore, they are considered some of the smallest dinosaurs of the Jurassic period. Microraptors had wing-like structures on both their front limbs and their tails. Because of this, paleontologists referred to them as four-winged dinosaurs, as it was suggested that these ancient creatures could glide using all four wings.
By the way, the first fossil of the Microraptor was discovered in Liaoning Province in northeastern China not long ago – in 2000. Since then, paleontologists have studied only a few specimens of Microraptors. Currently, there is still much that science does not know about them, particularly regarding what and how they ate.
Currently, scientists have found fossils of 21 microraptors along with remains of their last meal. Until recently, it was believed that these small dinosaurs were hunters that preyed, among other things, in trees. They skillfully glided from branch to branch and caught birds. Their diet also included lizards and fish. Now, there is evidence that these extinct animals did not shy away from mammals either.
According to Hans Larsson, this means that microraptors were not picky eaters. They may be among the first known generalist predators in the dinosaur ecosystem, the researchers wrote in an article for the journal The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Learning more about the dietary priorities of microraptors is important for understanding how these dinosaurs evolved into the birds that currently inhabit our planet.