An archosaur species named Smok wawelski was crushing bones 140 million years before the first tyrannosaurids arrived in North America, new research says.

Most dinosaurs used razor-like teeth to rip the flesh from their victims, but tyrannosaurids, including the famed T. rex, sliced flesh and crushed bones. Animal bones offer useful nutrition, including salt and marrow.

Bone-crushing, or osteophagous, the purposeful exploitation of bones, is fairly common among mammals, but rare among dinosaurs and their earliest relatives.

Scientists aren't sure whether Smok wawelski was a dinosaur or dino-like precursor. But thanks to new analysis of a selection of coprolites, or fossil droppings, researchers know Smok wawelski was a bone-crusher, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Scientific Reports.

Using synchrotron microtomography, imaging technology similar to a CT scan, scientists at Uppsala University in Sweden identified structures within the 210-million-year-old coprolites, including bones belonging to large amphibians and juvenile dicynodonts.

Smok lived during the Late Triassic. The bone-crusher grew to nearly 20 feet in length.

"Smok was a top predator that fed on various prey animals such as temnospondyl amphibians, juvenile dicynodonts, and even fish. So Smok probably ate everything it got its hands -- I mean teeth -- on," Martin Qvarnström, a doctoral student at Uppsala, told UPI. "Some bones in the fossil droppings appear etched but others not. So it appears that the food retention time in Smok differed over time depending on, for example, food type and availability."

Researchers also found the archosaur's teeth in the fossilized droppings, which were unearthed in Poland.

"The typical thin and blade-like teeth of theropods were good for slicing through soft tissue but probably not very useful for crushing bone," Qvarnström said. "The teeth in Smok are quite rounded toward the base, making them slightly more conical in shape and probably more resistant to higher bite forces. But we also know that they were repeatedly crushed, swallowed accidentally, and replaced by new ones."

Though only distantly related and separated by 140 million years, Smok and the tyrannosaurids both featured large heads and broad bodies, the kind of anatomy needed for bone-crushing.

"These large predators thus provide evidence of convergence driven by similar feeding ecology at the beginning and end of the age of dinosaurs," researchers wrote in the study.

Related Links
Explore The Early Earth at TerraDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Large volcanic eruption in Scotland may have contributed to prehistoric global warming
Uppsala, Sweden (SPX) Jan 25, 2019
Around 56 million years ago, global temperatures spiked. Researchers at Uppsala University and in the UK now show that a major explosive eruption from the Red Hills on the Isle of Skye may have been a contributing factor to the massive climate disturbance. Their findings have been published in the journal Scientific Reports. Large explosive volcanic eruptions can have lasting effects on climate and have been held responsible for severe climate effects in Earth's history. One such event occurred ar ... read more