Washington, Oct 7 (Inditop.com) A researcher has found evidence dating back 70 million years to suggest that a dinosaur preyed on and ate other dinosaurs.
The jawbone of what appears to be a Gorgosaurus was found in 1996 in southern Alberta. A technician at the Royal Tyrell Museum found something unusual embedded in the jaw. It was the tip of a tooth from another meat-eating dinosaur.
University of Alberta (U-A) researcher and doctoral candidate Phil Bell said discovery of the tooth shows that a fight between two dinosaurs definitely took place.
“The wound showed no signs of healing so we know the dinosaur died soon after it was inflicted.”
Bell says that leaves two possible storylines.
“Either the attacker fought, killed and ate this dinosaur, or the victim was already dead.” Either way, if the attacker and the victim were the same species, Bell has a rare case of dinosaur cannibalism.
Analysis of the wound in the jawbone showed the bite was applied with the same force as a two tonne great white shark. “Sharks are a good analogue for this research,” said Bell. “Their teeth frequently break off in an attack and become lodged in the victim.”
There is only one proven case of dinosaur cannibalism. That evidence was found in Madagascar in 2007, says an U-A release.
Bell and study co-author Phil Currie, paleontology professor at the U-A, published their findings this month in Lethaia.
