Palaeontologists in the UK have analysed fossil remains from around 120 million years ago, showing a small, feathered dinosaur – known as Microraptor – with the foot of an animal inside its ribcage.
Scientists believe they may have uncovered the first known incident of a mammal being eaten by a dinosaur.
Dr David Hone, from Queen Mary University of London, who is first author on the study, said: “It’s so rare to find examples of food inside dinosaurs, so every example is really important as it gives direct evidence of what they were eating. Microraptors lived in the ancient forests of what is now China, somewhere between 125 and 113 million years ago.About the size of a crow or a small cat, Microraptors would have been gliding from tree to tree to prey on small animals.
Further analysis suggests the prey was a mammal about the size of a mouse, which likely lived on the ground and was not a good climber.
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