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Therrien F, Zelenitsky DK, Tanaka K, Voris JT, Erickson GM, Currie PJ, DeBuhr CL, Kobayashi Y. Exceptionally preserved stomach contents of a young tyrannosaurid reveal an ontogenetic dietary shift in an iconic extinct predator. Sci Adv 2023; 9:eadi0505. [PMID: 38064561 PMCID: PMC10846869 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adi0505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023]
Abstract
Tyrannosaurids were large carnivorous dinosaurs that underwent major changes in skull robusticity and body proportions as they grew, suggesting that they occupied different ecological niches during their life span. Although adults commonly fed on dinosaurian megaherbivores, the diet of juvenile tyrannosaurids is largely unknown. Here, we describe a remarkable specimen of a juvenile Gorgosaurus libratus that preserves the articulated hindlimbs of two yearling caenagnathid dinosaurs inside its abdominal cavity. The prey were selectively dismembered and consumed in two separate feeding events. This predator-prey association provides direct evidence of an ontogenetic dietary shift in tyrannosaurids. Juvenile individuals may have hunted small and young dinosaurs until they reached a size when, to satisfy energy requirements, they transitioned to feeding on dinosaurian megaherbivores. Tyrannosaurids occupied both mesopredator and apex predator roles during their life span, a factor that may have been key to their evolutionary success.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Darla K. Zelenitsky
- Department of Earth, Energy, and Environment, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Kohei Tanaka
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Jared T. Voris
- Department of Earth, Energy, and Environment, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Gregory M. Erickson
- Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
| | - Philip J. Currie
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Christopher L. DeBuhr
- Department of Earth, Energy, and Environment, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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Tanaka K, Zelenitsky DK, Lü J, DeBuhr CL, Yi L, Jia S, Ding F, Xia M, Liu D, Shen C, Chen R. Incubation behaviours of oviraptorosaur dinosaurs in relation to body size. Biol Lett 2019; 14:rsbl.2018.0135. [PMID: 29769301 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2018] [Accepted: 04/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Most birds sit on their eggs during incubation, a behaviour that likely evolved among non-avian dinosaurs. Several 'brooding' specimens of smaller species of oviraptorosaurs and troodontids reveal these non-avian theropods sat on their eggs, although little is known of incubation behaviour in larger theropod species. Here we examine egg clutches over a large body size range of oviraptorosaurs in order to understand the potential effect of body size on incubation behaviour. Eggshell porosity indicates that the eggs of all oviraptorosaurs were exposed in the nest, similar to brooding birds. Although all oviraptorosaur clutches consist of radially arranged eggs in a ring configuration, clutch morphology varies in that the central opening is small or absent in the smallest species, becomes significantly larger in larger species, and occupies most of the nest area in giant species. Our results suggest that the smallest oviraptorosaurs probably sat directly on the eggs, whereas with increasing body size more weight was likely carried by the central opening, reducing or eliminating the load on the eggs and still potentially allowing for some contact during incubation in giant species. This adaptation, not seen in birds, appears to remove the body size constraints of incubation behaviour in giant oviraptorosaurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kohei Tanaka
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Nagoya University Museum, Furocho, Chikusa-Ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8601, Japan
| | - Darla K Zelenitsky
- Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - Junchang Lü
- Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, People's Republic of China
| | - Christopher L DeBuhr
- Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - Laiping Yi
- Ganzhou Museum, Ganzhou, Jiangxi 341000, People's Republic of China
| | - Songhai Jia
- Henan Geological Museum, Zhengzhou, Henan 450016, People's Republic of China
| | - Fang Ding
- Henan Geological Museum, Zhengzhou, Henan 450016, People's Republic of China
| | - Mengli Xia
- Henan Geological Museum, Zhengzhou, Henan 450016, People's Republic of China
| | - Di Liu
- Henan Geological Museum, Zhengzhou, Henan 450016, People's Republic of China
| | - Caizhi Shen
- Dalian Natural History Museum, Dalian, Liaoning 116000, People's Republic of China
| | - Rongjun Chen
- Dongyang Museum, Dongyang, Zhejiang 322100, People's Republic of China
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Zelenitsky DK, Therrien F, Erickson GM, DeBuhr CL, Kobayashi Y, Eberth DA, Hadfield F. Feathered Non-Avian Dinosaurs from North America Provide Insight into Wing Origins. Science 2012; 338:510-4. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1225376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Darla K. Zelenitsky
- Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - François Therrien
- Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller, Alberta TOJ OYO, Canada
| | - Gregory M. Erickson
- Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306–4295, USA
| | | | - Yoshitsugu Kobayashi
- Hokkaido University Museum, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060 0810, Japan
| | - David A. Eberth
- Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller, Alberta TOJ OYO, Canada
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