Paleontology - Diet

Herbivores

• Feed primarily on plants.

• Require grinding or shearing structures.

• Often have broad teeth or beaks.

• Common among large dinosaurs.

Carnivores

• Feed on other animals.

• Have sharp piercing teeth.

• Often possess hooked claws.

• Include theropod dinosaurs.

Leaf-Shaped Teeth

• Thin ridged tooth form.

• Used for slicing vegetation.

• Common in herbivorous dinosaurs.

• Adapted for shearing plants.

Grinding Teeth

• Broad flat surfaces.

• Crush plant material.

• Aid digestion.

• Seen in advanced herbivores.

Beak (Herbivorous Birds)

• Short triangular shape.

• Used for cropping plants.

• Replaces teeth.

• Seen in modern analogs.

Serrated Teeth

• Sharp bumps along tooth edge.

• Increase cutting efficiency.

• Slice flesh like a knife.

• Common in carnivorous theropods.

Raptorial Adaptations

• Hooked claws and beaks.

• Used to grab prey.

• Seen in birds of prey.

• Paralleled in theropods.

Frugivores

• Herbivores that eat fruit.

• Require tearing structures.

• Have hooked beaks.

• Example: parrots

Piscivores

• Carnivores that eat fish.

• Often have narrow jaws.

• Sharp gripping teeth.

• Example: spinosaurs.

Comparative Anatomy

• Using modern animals as analogs.

• Infers dinosaur diet.

• Based on structure function.

• Major paleontological method.

Fossil Gut Contents

• Preserved last meals.

• Direct diet evidence.

• Rare but powerful.

• Found inside ribcage.

Cololites

• Fossilized stomach contents.

• Show food remains.

• Identify diet type.

• Seen in herbivores and carnivores.

Coprolites

• Fossilized feces.

• Reveal diet composition.

• Show digestion style.

• Can contain bone or plant matter.

Durophagy

• Eating hard materials.

• Includes bone consumption.

• Seen in tyrannosaurs.

• Confirmed by bite marks and coprolites.

Bite Marks

• Tooth impressions on fossil bones.

• Indicate predation or scavenging.

• Reveal predator identity.

• Show feeding behavior.

Gastroliths

• Stones swallowed into stomach.

• Possibly aid digestion.

• Also used for buoyancy.

• Seen in some dinosaurs.

Feeding Adaptations

• Physical traits for food acquisition.

• Include teeth, beaks, claws, necks.

• Reflect ecological niche.

• Key to reconstructing lifestyle.

Browsing Adaptations

• Long necks and legs.

• Reach high vegetation.

• Seen in sauropods.

• Similar to giraffes.

Hooked Beaks

• Tear flesh or tough plants.

• Seen in carnivores and frugivores.

• Not exclusive to diet type.

• Indicates specialization.

Tooth Turnover

• Continuous tooth replacement.

• Common in dinosaurs.

• Maintains sharp teeth.

• Especially in carnivores.

Shearing Mechanism

• Teeth slide past each other.

• Slice plant matter.

• Efficient processing.

• Seen in herbivores.

Grinding Mechanism

• Crushing food between teeth.

• Breaks down cellulose.

• Improves digestion.

• Seen in advanced herbivores.

Specialized Diets

• Narrow food preferences.

• Require unique adaptations.

• Examples: fruit, fish, bone.

• Increase niche separation.

Ecological Niche

• Role in ecosystem.

• Includes diet and behavior.

• Reduces competition.

• Inferred from anatomy.

Predatory Evidence

• Bite marks on prey bones.

• Gut contents.

• Tooth morphology.

• Coprolites with bone.

Herbivory Evidence

• Leaf-shaped teeth.

• Plant remains in cololites.

• Jaw mechanics.

• Beak shape.

Feeding Strategy Diversity

• Wide range among dinosaurs.

• Includes carnivory, herbivory, piscivory.

• Shows evolutionary success.

• Reduces resource competition.

Functional Morphology

• Structure related to function.

• Links anatomy to diet.

• Core paleontology principle.

• Used constantly in reconstructions.

Last-Meal Preservation

• Rare fossilization event.

• Requires rapid burial.

• Produces gut contents.

• High-quality evidence.

Bone-Crushing Behavior

• Breaking prey bones.

• Extracting marrow and nutrients.

• Seen in tyrannosaurs.

• Linked to durophagy.

Dietary Inference

• Combining multiple evidence types.

• Anatomy + fossils + comparisons.

• Strengthens conclusions.

• Standard scientific approach.

Modern Analogs

• Living species used for comparison.

• Birds, reptiles, mammals.

• Help interpret fossils.

• Improve accuracy.

Adaptive Radiation (Diet-Based)

• Diversification into food niches.

• Leads to varied anatomy.

• Seen across dinosaur groups.

• Drives evolutionary success.

Feeding Efficiency

• How effectively food is processed.

• Influenced by tooth shape.

• Affects energy intake.

• Shapes survival.

Predator-Prey Relationships

• Revealed by bite marks.

• Gut contents confirm interactions.

• Show food webs.

• Help reconstruct ecosystems.

Dietary Specialization Risks

• Reliance on specific food source.

• Vulnerable to environmental change.

• Balanced by efficiency.

• Seen in extreme feeders.