Ancient Vomit Found Beneath the North Sea Hints at Where Plesiosaurs May Have Napped After Dinner
Researchers found more than 20 fossil regurgitalites with shells and worm tubes, suggesting plesiosaurs fed on the seafloor before moving into sheltered shallows.
- Paleontologist Dirk Knaust identified fossilized vomit in North Sea drill cores, a discovery detailed in Geological Magazine representing the first identification of plesiosaur vomit from the Jurassic Period.
- Like owls, prehistoric plesiosaurs routinely regurgitated indigestible meal leftovers, a behavior Knaust compared to modern fur seals and marine crocodiles to understand the fossil evidence.
- Inside the regurgitalites, Knaust found concentrated remains of shellfish, worm tubes, sea lilies, and hard parts from belemnites, amassing more than 20 such fossilized clumps.
- Plesiosaurs consumed prey in saltier oceans, then traveled to shallow river deltas to vomit, suggesting they sought sheltered coastal waters after feeding episodes.
- This finding provides rare insight into marine reptile evolution during the Jurassic Period, with Knaust stating, "There's so much more we can learn.
16 Articles
16 Articles
Illustration shows plesiosaurs feeding at the bottom of the sea. Image was aided by artificial intelligence. Artemieff/CC BY Marine reptiles that lived for more than 160 million years may have swam to shallower regions, close to the coast, to vomit shells and other parts of prey that could not digest. The hypothesis appears in a study published in the scientific journal "Geological Magazine", which analyzed more than 20 fossilized vomit blocks f…
Plesiosaurians had fins and a very long neck. Through this they probably again and again choked out remnants of their meals - which were preserved to this day as fossils.
volksfreund.de
Plesiosaurians had fins and a very long neck. Through this they probably again and again choked out remnants of their meals - which were preserved to this day as fossils.
For millions of years, the plesiosaurs , huge marine reptiles with long necks similar to what the collective imagination imagines of the monster of Lake Ness, dominated the seas of the Jurassic and the Cretaceous. These giant reptiles that could measure up to 13 meters were one of the most successful groups of marine reptiles of Mesozoic: they lived for more than 140 million years and their fossils have been found on virtually all continents. Bu…
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 55% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
