More than 200 million years ago, the dinosaurs They began to evolve, and in a few million years, they managed to become the dominant animals on the planet. Throughout history, paleontologists have sought to understand how these gigantic reptiles, from tiny herbivores to enormous predators, came to conquer all terrestrial ecosystems. Until now, its success was thought to depend on a combination of factors such as climate, biological adaptations or even luck. However, a recent study has provided a revealing new perspective on how dinosaurs rose to supremacy: their diet.
Analysis of fossilized feces, known as coprolites, and prehistoric vomit or “regurgitalites,” has provided surprising data that explain how these animals adapted to environmental and dietary changes during their early evolution. The study, led by an international team of scientists from the Uppsala University, Swedenrevealed never-before-imagined details about the diet of dinosaurs in their first million years of existence. As stated to Nature paleontologist Martin Qvarnström, leader of the study, this type of research is like detective work, since “examining what the animals ate and how they interacted with their environment offers us invaluable insight into what allowed them to achieve supremacy.”
In your investigationscientists focused on a region of Poland that, about 220 million years ago, was part of the supercontinent Pangea. Through the use of advanced 3D scanning technology, researchers analyzed hundreds of coprolites found at this location, revealing remains of prey and plants. consumed by dinosaurs. This approach allowed paleontologists to reconstruct how ecosystems interacted in the Triassic period, the era when dinosaurs came to prominence.
Among the most surprising findings is the discovery that the first herbivorous dinosaurs, such as sauropodomorfosnot only did they consume large amounts of tree ferns and other plants, but they also ingested a considerable amount of charcoal. This caught the attention of researchers, who suggest that dinosaurs could have eaten burned wood to “detoxify” their stomachs from the toxic compounds present in ferns. “Plants like ferns contain toxins that can be harmful to many animals, so we believe that dinosaurs supplemented them with charcoal to neutralize them,” Qvarnström explained.
In addition to plant remains, the coprolites also contained fragments of insects, pieces and small vertebratesindicating that dinosaurs maintained a varied diet, adapting quickly to changes in their environment. According to Grzegorz Niedźwiedzki, paleontologist and co-author of the study, “The dietary flexibility of dinosaurs was key to their success. “Not only were they able to eat what they found, but they also adapted to new plant species when climatic conditions changed, allowing them to thrive.”
The study also reveals that dinosaurs began their dominance as small animals opportunistscapable of adapting to a wide range of food sources. According to the model proposed by the researchers, the first dinosaurs, although small, already played a role in ecosystems, consuming all types of resources such as insects, pieces y plants. However, as environmental conditions favored greater diversity of flora, herbivorous dinosaurs began to evolve, with species such as sauropodomorfos who adapted to a more varied and extensive diet.
This model of dietary adaptation explains, in large part, how dinosaurs were able to replace other pre-existing species and dominate ecosystems. As the herbivorous dinosaurs diversified, so did the theropodstheir predators. The presence of a wide variety of foods in their diet allowed dinosaurs to occupy different ecological niches and expand their domain.
In addition to shedding light on the evolution of dinosaurs, this study also offers lessons on how species can adapt to climate and environmental changes, a question of great relevance today due to the climate crisis. climate change and the mass extinction facing global biodiversity.
Martin Qvarnström reflected on this, noting that by studying how dinosaurs responded to past climate changes, we can gain important clues about how modern species might react to alterations in their environments. “Unfortunately, climate change and mass extinctions are not just phenomena of the past,” said Qvarnström. “Studying how ancient ecosystems adapted can help us understand how life can thrive under changing conditions.”
With these discoveries, the researchers hope to expand their study to other regions of the world, searching for more coprolites and fossil remains that help better understand how dinosaurs reached their peak. In the words of Qvarnström, “this is just the beginning. “The next stage is to test whether these findings hold up in other parts of the world, where remains of the first dinosaurs are preserved.”
The study of fossilized remains of dinosaur feces and vomit has provided new insight into the origin of their planetary dominance. Through an innovative and multidisciplinary approach, scientists have managed to reconstruct the feeding interactions of these animals and how their ability to adapt to new food sources was crucial to their evolutionary success. Thus, the study of coprolites not only brings us closer to understanding how dinosaurs came to dominate the Earth, but also offers us clues about the flexibility and adaptation of species in a constantly changing environment.
