US EditionCanadian fossil reveals one of the first plant-eating animals
The fossilized skull of Tyrannoroter heberti shows specialized teeth adapted for grinding plants, indicating early terrestrial herbivory among tetrapods 307 million years ago.
- On February 10, researchers described a 307-million-year-old skull from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, naming it Tyrannoroter heberti after Brian Hebert, who found it embedded in a fossilized tree stump.
- Prevailing research long held that vertebrate herbivory arose much later, near 299 million years ago, after plants colonized land around 475 million years ago and vertebrates arrived roughly 100 million years later.
- Using high-resolution micro-CT, researchers revealed dental batteries, dozens of palate teeth, and a downturned snout with large muscle chambers suited for crushing and grinding food.
- The team argues the find pushes back the timeline for vertebrate herbivory and shows Tyrannoroter likely combined plant-eating with insectivory during a dietary transition.
- Living near the end of the Carboniferous Period, Tyrannoroter experienced rainforest collapse and global warming, and its lineage's decline suggests vulnerability of plant-eating animals during climate shifts.
20 Articles
20 Articles
A 307 million-year-old fossil found in Canada made it possible to identify the oldest known vertebrate that incorporated plants into its diet. The discovery provides new clues about the origin of terrestrial herbivory and about the evolution of the first animals that managed to adapt permanently to life on land. The research was carried out by scientists from the University of Carleton in Canada. The specimen appeared on Cape Breton Island in th…
This ancient animal was one of the first to eat plants on land
Hundreds of millions of years ago, the first animals to crawl onto land were strict meat-eaters, even as plants had already taken over the landscape. Now scientists have uncovered a 307-million-year-old fossil that rewrites that story: one of the earliest known land vertebrates to start eating plants. The animal, named Tyrannoroter heberti, was a stocky, football-sized creature with a skull packed with specialized teeth designed for crushing and
This Football-Shaped Creature Was an Early Terrestrial Plant-Eater
For 100 million years, plants had Earth’s surface mostly to themselves while vertebrates thrashed around in the primordial seas. When vertebrates finally crept up on terra firma, they still opted to dine on their fellow animals, leaving the foliage alone. Tens of millions of years later, that changed. Now, researchers have identified one of the earliest known fossils of a terrestrial vertebrate plant-eater. They published their findings today in…
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