[Rockhounds] 120 Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Fossil Hid a Surprising Meal in Its Stomach

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

The surprising lunch of a cat-size dinosaur has been discovered in a 120
million-year-old Microraptor fossil. Though the fossil was first described
in 2000 <https://www.nature.com/articles/35047056>, it hid an intriguing
and historic secret: A re-analysis of the fossil found the foot bones of a
mammal within the raptor's rib cage -- the first evidence of a dino dining
on a mammal.

The find, described in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology on Tuesday
<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2022.2144337>,
builds on the previous research of the *Microraptor zhaoianus *fossil,
discovered in the Jiufotang Formation in western China. That fossil is
missing the middle portion of its body, but the rib cage is visible and,
within, the bones of a tiny right foot, less than half an inch in size,
were perfectly preserved.

Microraptors were three-toed, carnivorous dinosaurs that occupied the trees
of ancient Earth and are among the smallest dinosaurs discovered. Fossils
of different microraptor species show evidence of long feathers on each
limb, which may have used for gliding.

As you might expect, being eaten doesn't typically result in very
well-preserved fossil remains. All that biting and chewing, plus digestion,
typically leaves few traces of a meal. However, scientists have a fairly
good idea of the microraptor diet thanks to fossils with undigested remains
in the stomach.

https://www.cnet.com/science/biology/120-million-year-old-dinosaur-fossil-hid-a-surprising-meal-in-its-stomach/