For decades, pop culture and scientific opinion have agreed that long-necked sauropod dinosaurs were herbivores, but there was no definitive proof found in the fossil record. A new study published Monday in the journal Current Biology provides concrete evidence to support this argument, in the form of fossilized plants discovered in the belly of a sauropod.
Paleontologists from Australia and Germany have been excavating fossils for years, and their latest discovery is one of the most significant finds in the history of paleontology. A team led by Dr. Stephen Poropat found fossilized plants in the gut of a 36-foot-long juvenile Diamantinasaurus matildae, nicknamed Judy.
The discovery was made on a dig in Queensland, Australia, in 2017, and it has confirmed what scientists had suspected for years: sauropods didn’t chew their food. Instead, they snipped their food with small teeth and swallowed, allowing their gut bacteria to do the rest of the work.
Dr. Poropat said that the discovery is a “smoking gun” or “steaming guts,” providing direct evidence of what sauropods ate. The fossilized plants in Judy’s belly include leaves from tall conifer trees and relatively recently-evolved flowering plants, indicating that sauropods had access to a variety of food sources.
The study suggests that long-necked dinosaurs relied on a varied diet to maintain their massive size. Dr. Poropat said that the discovery is significant because it provides concrete evidence for what scientists had previously suspected about sauropod diets.
While Judy’s fossil represents just one specimen among countless long-necked dinosaurs, the discovery is still a major breakthrough in understanding these ancient creatures. As Dr. P. Martin Sander from Germany said, “The amazing thing is that it actually preserved.”
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/09/science/sauropod-dinosaur-fossils-vegetarians.html