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Diamantinasaurus matildaea types of sauropod dinosaur that lived around 94 million years earlier (mid-Cretaceous duration), consumed conifers, seed ferns, and blooming plants, and relied practically completely on its gut microorganisms for food digestion, according to an analysis of a specimen from the Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia.
An artist’s impression of Diamantinasaurus matildae (Judy). Image credit: Travis Tischler.
Understanding of the diet plan of dinosaurs is crucial to comprehending their paleobiology and function in Mesozoic environments.
Although lots of non-avian dinosaurs have actually been translated as herbivorous on the basis of their anatomy, extremely couple of fossils offer empirical proof for this in the type of cololites(fossilized gut contents).
To date, of the countless herbivorous non-avian dinosaur specimens explained internationally, just 3 are concerned to maintain indisputable or extremely possible gut contents, and all are armored thyreophoran dinosaurs maintained in marine layers.
The only other herbivorous non-avian dinosaur specimen with possible fossilized gut contents is a hadrosaurid ornithopod dinosaur maintained in a fluvial setting.
Hence, gut contents for sauropod dinosaurs– maybe the most environmentally impactful terrestrial herbivores worldwide throughout much of the Jurassic and Cretaceous, offered their massive sizes– have actually stayed evasive.
“Ever considering that the 19th century, paleontologists have actually securely concerned sauropods as herbivores,” stated Dr. Stephen Poropat, deputy director of the Western Australian Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre at Curtin University.
“However, the particular plants that they consumed, and the height above ground at which they fed, have actually stayed unidentified– previously.”
Dr. Poropat and coworkers evaluated the fossilized gut contents of a Diamantinasaurus matildae specimen nicknamed Judy.
The fossil was found on a residential or commercial property near Winton and excavated in 2017 by personnel and person researchers from the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History.
Within Judy’s stomach contents, the paleontologists discovered pinnules and bracts from high conifer trees, together with leaves and fruiting bodies from smaller sized seed ferns and blooming plants.
Diamantinasaurus matildae skeleton with gut contents. Image credit: Poropat et aldoi: 10.1016/ j.cub.2025.04.053.
“The findings exposed that sauropods consumed a range of plants from numerous heights in the air, which this added to their long-lasting success,”Dr. Poropat stated.
“The stomach contents we discovered come from a 12-m-long, subadult sauropod. “
“Our findings reveal that a minimum of some types of subadult sauropods had the ability to feed at a range of heights above ground and quickly adjust to the numerous weather, ecological, and plants modifications throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous durations.”
“We likewise verified that sauropods were bulk-feeders– an approach still utilized by herbivorous reptiles and birds today.”
“This indicates they would not have actually chewed their food, rather swallowing it entire and letting their digestion system do the remainder of the work.”
“Any provided meal would likely have actually lived in their gastrointestinal system for as much as 2 weeks before waste from that meal was excreted.”
“Finally having the ability to look inside the very first reported sauropod stomach contents had actually validated previous hypotheses about the sauropod types.”
“Sauropods were exceptional animals that strolled the earth for more than 130 million years. Comprehending their diet plan is vital to comprehending their effect on Earth’s communities– especially on plants and other herbivorous types– throughout that time.”
“Further research study and preferably discovering more sauropod fossils with stomach contents will be required to identify whether their feeding practices altered as they developed, and especially whether they continued to consume low-growing plants, which they ate as juveniles, throughout their adult lives.”
“It was the very first time biomarkers and particles have actually been determined in the gut contents of a sauropod,” stated Professor Kliti Grice, Founding Director of the Western Australian Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre at Curtin University.
“By utilizing innovative natural geochemical strategies, we had the ability to validate the existence of both angiosperms and gymnosperms in the diet plan of this sauropod.”
“This distinct method was what offered molecular proof of the plants that sauropods taken in.”
The group’s paper was released in the journal Present Biology
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Stephen F. Poropat et al2025. Fossilized gut contents illuminate the feeding routines of sauropod dinosaurs. Present Biology 35 (11 ): 2597-2613; doi: 10.1016/ j.cub.2025.04.053
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