Dinosaur fossils suggest some dinosaurs ate seaweed washed onto North American coasts
A study in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution suggests that dinosaurs and their prey may have consumed marine material washed onto beaches along North American coasts. The research examines whether marine subsidization, in which storms bring ocean food ashore, supplied food when terrestrial ecosystems produced less than usual.
Dinosaurs and their prey may have eaten marine material washed onto beaches, according to a study published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. The finding suggests that some dinosaurs could have used food from coastal waters in addition to resources available on land.
The study concerns marine subsidization, a process in which storms wash marine material ashore. Such material can provide food for land animals and other organisms in coastal ecosystems.
Marine subsidization is especially important today when land ecosystems produce less food than usual, including during droughts. The study suggests that a similar source of food may have been available to dinosaurs and their prey.
The reported evidence comes from fossil teeth and supports the possibility that dinosaurs consumed seaweed washed onto North American coasts. The supplied report does not identify the dinosaur species involved or specify the fossil locations.
THE QUESTIONS THIS EVENT LEAVES BEHIND
Which dinosaur species were most likely to use washed-up marine material as food?
How often did storms provide enough marine food to affect dinosaur diets?
What evidence distinguishes seaweed consumption from other possible foods found on beaches?
Did access to marine subsidization change where dinosaurs lived or moved?
How might coastal food supplies have affected competition between dinosaurs and their prey?
YOUR QUESTION
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