Paleontologists found fossilized seeds of gymnosperms, relatives of today’s conifers and ginkgo trees, in the stomachs of two of the specimens. Longipteryx caoyangensis One of the oldest known birds, and also one of the strangest. This discovery shows that these birds ate fruit, despite the long-held assumption that they were fish eaters, and the more recent hypothesis that they ate insects with their incredibly strong teeth.
Longipteryx caoyangensis It lived in what is now northeastern China during the Cretaceous period, about 120 million years ago.
First described in 2000, this ancient bird had a long skull and teeth only at the tip of its beak.
“Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the body. Longipteryx” Human tooth enamel is 50 microns thick,” says Alex Clark, a doctoral student at the Field Museum and the University of Chicago.
“That’s the same thickness as the enamel of a large carnivorous dinosaur. Allosaurus It weighed 4,000 pounds. Longipteryx It was about the size of a blue jay.”
Scientists have previously found that the elongated skull of a kingfisher Longipteryx caoyangensis This means they hunted fish, but this hypothesis has been called into question by a number of studies.
“There are other fossil birds. Janornis “We know they ate fish because specimens have been found with preserved stomach contents, and fish tend to preserve well,” said Dr. Jingmai O’Connor, associate curator of fossil reptiles at the Field Museum.
“In addition, these fish-eating birds had many teeth throughout their beaks. Longipteryx “It only has teeth at the tip of its beak. That doesn’t make sense.”
but, Longipteryx caoyangensis In some cases, animals have been found with fossilized food still in their stomachs, allowing scientists to determine what they had been eating.
In the new study, paleontologists examined two new specimens of this species.
They found that the small round structures in the bird’s stomach Gymnosperms seed.
Since Longipteryx caoyangensis Since they lived in a temperate climate, it is unlikely that they ate fruit all year round.
The authors speculate that when fruit was unavailable, they may have had a mixed diet that included insects.
Longipteryx caoyangensis Part of a larger group of prehistoric birds called enantiornithines, the discovery marks the first time that scientists have found the stomach contents of an enantiornithine in China’s Jehol Biota, despite the discovery of thousands of fossils.
“It’s always puzzling not to know what they were eating, but this study points to a larger problem in palaeontology, which is that the physical characteristics of fossils don’t always tell the whole story about what animals were eating or how they lived,” Dr O’Connor said.
Since Longipteryx caoyangensis It apparently did not hunt fish, which raises the question of what it used its long, pointed beak and unusually strong teeth for.
“The thick enamel seems to be overpowering and weaponized,” Clark said.
“One of the most common skeletal parts that birds use in aggressive displays is the proboscis, or beak.”
“Using the beak as a weapon makes sense because it keeps the weapon away from the rest of the body and helps prevent injury.”
“Modern birds don’t have teeth, but there are some really cool little hummingbirds that have keratinous projections near the tip of their snouts. Longipteryx And they are using it as a weapon to fight each other,” Dr O’Connor added.
“Hummingbird beaks have evolved at least seven times, allowing them to compete for limited resources.”
of Survey results Published in the journal today Current Biology.
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Jinmai O’Connor others Direct evidence for frugivory in Mesozoic birds Longipteryx This is inconsistent with morphological indicators of diet. Current Biology Published online September 10, 2024; doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.08.012
Source: www.sci.news
