By: Tina Nasiri

Evolutionnumber9, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0&gt;, via Wikimedia Commons

On December 8, Canadian scientists discovered an extremely rare fossil in Alberta: not only one dinosaur, but one which reveals  the remains of 2 baby dinosaurs that it had eaten in its stomach. This discovery includes the fossilized structure of a tyrannosaur and the legs of 2 bird-like dinosaurs called citipes elegans. A researcher at McGill University stated that he had only encountered 21 of these cases in his whole life. It is  very rare for a dinosaur to be found with stomach contents, but scientists were lucky enough to make this interesting find. Based on the bones of the tyrannosaur, the researchers found that its body had been about 4 meters long and estimated that the tyrannosaur was aged 5-7 years old when it had died. 

Scientists have found that younger tyrannosaurs had differed from older tyrannosaurs; younger ones had blade-like teeth for slicing, while older ones had banana-like teeth for crushing food. The discovery of the fossil has helped researchers confirm their predictions that tyrannosaurs had hunted bigger prey as they grew. The only body parts found in the tyrannosaur’s stomach were legs of its prey, providing hints into the hunting patterns of tyrannosaurs. In addition, one paleontologist has stated that it is not individual studies, but the combination of many that leads researchers to a better understanding of our world millions of years ago. Overall, this discovery shows that even millions of years later, scientists are still striving to piece together the truth about dinosaurs.

Work Cited

Chung, Emily. “Young tyrannosaur found with baby dinosaurs in its stomach.” CBC, 8 December 2023, https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/tyrannosaur-with-prey-1.7051950. Accessed 10 December 2023.