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Study Finds some Dinosaurs Snacked on Seaweed Washed Ashore
Researchers found elevated carbon isotope signatures in coastal fossils, suggesting dinosaurs and other animals ate marine plants washed ashore.
- A new study published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution suggests dinosaurs living along ancient coastlines supplemented their diets with seaweed around 100 million years ago.
- University of Arkansas geologist Clayton Forster analyzed carbon isotope signatures in fossilized teeth to investigate why coastal dinosaurs exhibited unexpectedly high values compared to inland counterparts.
- Researchers identified marine subsidization , a process where coastal animals consume marine matter like seaweed to supplement their diets, a behavior shared by modern herbivores.
- Fossils from the Western Interior Seaway and the ancient Gulf of Mexico coastline showed consistent carbon signatures, linking terrestrial and marine ecosystems during the Cretaceous period.
- Forster noted that not all species exploited these resources, pointing to Tenontosaurus as an example that relied on land-growing plants rather than marine sources.
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InsideNoVA.com+9 Reposted by 9 other sources
Study finds some dinosaurs snacked on seaweed washed ashore
But not all dinosaurs exploited marine resources.
·Washington, United States
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Dinosaur snacked on seaweed washed up on North American coasts, fossil teeth suggest
Storms routinely wash marine material ashore, providing food for land animals and other organisms. This is known as marine subsidization (MS). Today, MS is particularly common in coastal ecosystems and is especially important to animals when land ecosystems produce less food than usual, such as during droughts. A new Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution study has shown that dinos and their prey, too, may have eaten seafood washed onto beaches.
·Douglas, United Kingdom
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Dinosaurs and their prey could have been fed seafood dragged to the beaches, which explains the mysterious and high signatures of carbon isotopes [...]
·Madrid, Spain
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources13
Leaning Left2Leaning Right2Center7Last UpdatedBias Distribution64% Center
Bias Distribution
- 64% of the sources are Center
64% Center
L 18%
C 64%
R 18%
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