Herbivorous diet in an ornithomimid dinosaur

Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, Jun-Chang Lu, Zhi-Ming Dong, Rinchen Barsbold, Yoichi Azuma and Yukimitsu Tomida
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Yoshitsugu Kobayashi: Southern Methodist University
Jun-Chang Lu: Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Academia Sinica
Zhi-Ming Dong: Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Academia Sinica
Rinchen Barsbold: Geological Institute, Mongolian Academy of Sciences
Yoichi Azuma: Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Academia Sinica
Yukimitsu Tomida: National Science Museum

Nature, 1999, vol. 402, issue 6761, 480-481

Abstract: Abstract In 1997, twelve well-articulated skeletons of an ornithomimid dinosaur1 from the Upper Cretaceous Ulansuhai Formation2 in China were discovered. Each skeleton contained a preserved gastrolith mass inside the ribcage that was attached on the medial surface of the articulated dorsal ribs and gastralia. The occurrence and characteristics of gastrolith masses in this ornithomimid indicate that these non-avian toothless theropods may have had gizzards and been herbivores, like modern herbivorous birds that use grit to grind up plant matter.

Date: 1999
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DOI: 10.1038/44999

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