Paleontologists have discovered the diet of a sauropod dinosaur for the first time, shedding light on these massive herbivores’ eating habits. A 100-million-year-old specimen of Diamantinasaurus matildae, found in Australia, contained preserved gut contents that revealed a diverse range of prehistoric plants. The fossils included conifer needles, leaves from flowering plants, and seed-fern fruiting bodies. This discovery confirms what many paleontologists had suspected: sauropods were generalist bulk feeders. Contrary to previous assumptions, the researchers found that these dinosaurs did not chew their food like modern animals do. Instead, they likely swallowed their meals whole and relied on fermentation in their huge guts to digest their food. The findings provide new insights into the biology and behavior of these incredible creatures.
Source: https://www.science.org/content/article/long-necked-dinosaur-found-its-last-meal-still-inside