Do you know what this dinosaur last ate before he died?
Do you know what was your favorite dinosaur food? About 110 million a Borealopelta dinosaur was most likely killed during a forest fire. He swallowed the green fern as the fire slowly destroyed everything in front of him. Shortly afterward, the dinosaur ended up dead in the river from the time of Crete and was then thrown into the sea.
He remained buried beneath marine sediments until 2011 when oil mine workers stumbled upon the wreckage. Today it is the best-preserved specimen of an animal species that has long since become extinct. The fossil provided more information on how they lived, what was a favorite dinosaur food.
After scientists studied the fossil they made a great discovery. Small balls of plant matter found in the intestines of dinosaurs revealed last meal. Also, the time when the dinosaur died. The fossil is well preserved so there was no need to speculate much about the contents of the stomach. Finding food debris in the intestines of fossils is a rarity, and of herbivores even rarer.
Dinosaur fossil
Chemical conditions that preserve bone can break down plant substances. Plant material can often be drawn into the fossil’s body, making it difficult to spot food. Just like in the Borealopelta fossil. Content of his stomach revealed his favorite food. Borealopelta weighed about 3,000 kg, 18 feet long. It is an armored species of dinosaurs that lived in the Northwest part of America 110 million years ago. The dinosaur fossilized amazingly.
After he ended up dead in the river, the body was taken more than 100 miles to a site that divided North America into two parts. This applies to the area between the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic Ocean.
When Borealopelta was excavated on the left side of the thoracic cavity was a mass of several pebbles. Exactly where the stomach was supposed to be. Two scientists, Henderson and Brown, took small pieces of the fallen mass, put it in resin, and made slides out of paper. They then examined the same slides under a microscope.