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Dinosaurs Craved Seafood in Tough Times: Million-Year-Old Teeth Reveal Surprising Diet.
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News18•01-10-2026, 18:46
Dinosaurs Craved Seafood in Tough Times: Million-Year-Old Teeth Reveal Surprising Diet.
- •First-time proof that dinosaurs and other Cretaceous animals included seafood in their diet.
- •Marine subsidization, where land animals consume marine creatures washed ashore, was common during the Cretaceous period.
- •Geologist Clayton Forster led a study examining fossilized teeth of dinosaurs and other animals, including crocodiles, turtles, and fish.
- •Carbon isotope analysis revealed marine resources were incorporated into the teeth of coastal animals, indicating seafood consumption.
- •Not all dinosaurs consumed marine resources; only those near coastlines showed evidence of seafood in their diet.
Key Questions Answered
Researchers discovered this by examining fossilized teeth from dinosaurs and other animals, finding that minerals and carbon isotope values indicated consumption of marine resources.
The large herbivorous dinosaur Tenontosaurus tilletti showed no evidence of marine subsidization, indicating that only dinosaurs from certain specific coastal areas depended on seafood.
Geologist Clayton Forster from the University of Arkansas led the study, explaining that coastal animals in the Cretaceous greenhouse climate depended on marine resources like modern organisms to supplement their diet.
