Additional specimen of Microraptor provides unique evidence of dinosaurs preying on birds.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: O'Connor J
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3241752 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Additional specimen of Microraptor provides unique evidence of dinosaurs preying on birds.
O'Connor Jingmai J Zhou Zhonghe Z Xu Xing X
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20111121 49
Preserved indicators of diet are extremely rare in the fossil record; even more so is unequivocal direct evidence for predator-prey relationships. Here, we report on a unique specimen of the small nonavian theropod Microraptor gui from the Early Cretaceous Jehol biota, China, which has the remains of an adult enantiornithine bird preserved in its abdomen, most likely not scavenged, but captured and consumed by the dinosaur. We provide direct evidence for the dietary preferences of Microraptor an ...[more]
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