RE: Spinosaurs ate pterosaurs

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>]

> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Tim Donovan
>
> Was the specimen found in a region where spinosaurs
> were already known to exist e.g. Africa, or elsewhere?
>
Yes, it is from the Romulado Member of the Sanata Fm. of Brazil, which has
also produced Angaturama and Irritator.

The pterosaur is represented by three cervicals, identified as
ornithoceirid; scaling to other pterosaurs suggests it was a 3.3 m wingspan
individual.

The neck was not swallowed (no sign of digestion on the bone surfaces).

Obviously, given the limited nature of the material, the authors cannot tell
if it was a pterosaur caught on the ground, a scavenged carcass found in a
lagoon, or (most dramatic, but least likely) a pterosaur snatched while
flying by.

> > From: Ben Creisler bh480@scn.org
> > In case this item has not been mentioned here yet:
> >
> > BUFFETAUT, ERIC, DAVID MARTILL & FRANGOIS ESCUILLII,
> > 2004.
> > Pterosaurs as part of a spinosaur diet. Nature 430:
> > 33
> > (01 July 2004)
> > A remarkable specimen has been discovered of an
> > Early
> > Cretaceous pterosaur that has a tooth embedded in
> > one of
> > its cervical vertebrae: the tooth has been
> > identified as
> > one from a spinosaurid theropod dinosaur. This
> > fossil is
> > direct evidence that spinosaurs included items other
> > than
> > fish in their diet.
> >
                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                Vertebrate Paleontologist
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
                College Park, MD  20742
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/tholtz.htm
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/eltsite
Phone:  301-405-4084    Email:  tholtz@geol.umd.edu
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