Show Dinosaur Link Found In Utah Fossil Dig r I Bryn Nelson Contributing Writer Fossil hunters in Utah have discovered discovered discovered ered a toothy and sickle-clawed sickle relative relative relative rela rela- tive of that was in the process of shedding its carnivorous past for a diet of leafy greens a find an important evolutionary evolution evolution- that opens up ary window for one of paleontology's paleontology s oddest families dinosaur The year old named provides a snapshot of major transition rare of dinosaurs once mistaken mistaken mis- mis a group K among taken for giant sea turtles Now widely widely wide wide- larger group within within a placed ly y rise to birds believed to have given these as they they're re known have proven difficult to char char- With the unearthing of more than 1700 fossils from a bone boneyard boneyard boneyard yard in east-central east Utah though researchers and artists have reconstructed reconstructed reconstructed recon recon- a creature that appears caught in a moment of evolutionary limbo between its footed fleet-footed predatory past and its plodding plant-eating plant future Standing on two legs the dinosaur likely reached 3 2 1 feet in height atthe atthe at atthe the hips and 13 feet in length Leaf- Leaf shaped teeth designed for shredding and an expanded plant-friendly plant gut provide some of the hints suggesting a vegetarian diet for the Utah native If you look at this animals animal's teeth I seriously doubt it could cut a steak with its mouth unless the meat was rotten said Utah Geological Survey I f fsr J I m Tn http ww http paleontologist James Kirkland who led the study in this weeks week's edition of the journal Nature Dinosaur Continued on Page 10 Dinosaur Continued from front Then again its sharp sick sick- shaped le-shaped claws perhaps an evolutionary leftover could have done some major damage Whether the dinosaur had entirely abandoned abandoned abandoned aban aban- its carnivorous ways for the life of a rather menacing menacing menacing men men- acing vegan is debatable But study co-author co Scott Sampson said the transition fits with the rise of flowering flowering flowering flower flower- ing plants which would have provided a new ecological ecological ecological eco eco- logical niche for the dinosaur to exploit This thing had already gone down the path that would lead to said Sampson of the Utah Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City Daniel Brinkman a dinosaur expert at the Yale Peabody Museum who wasn't wasn't wasn't was was- nt involved with the research said the dinosaurs dinosaur's enlarged belly suggests that the descendant of meat eaters had evolved a kind of fermentation vat to help it digest the less nutritious vegetation tation One of the hallmarks of that is a big belly he said A prior ancestor perhaps with a smaller bulge may have been the real omnivore of the family Researchers also believe was covered in primitive hairlike feathers as fossil evidence suggests for close relatives such as Chinas China's equally bizarre and for earlier earli earli- er and later Researchers cannot yet say whether or its Chinese cousin is older but their striking similarities suggest a widespread lineage lineage lineage lin lin- lin- lin across both continents with a potential back-and- back forth travel route extending through Europe |