The small mammal was found inside a 120-million-year-old fossil.
in the Early Cretaceous period some 120 million years ago. The size of a crow, Microraptor had long features on its arms and legs and might have glided across different trees, hunting for prey.
The specimen was first described around 22 years ago - but it took two decades for Professor Hans Larsson of McGill in Montreal to spot what everyone else missed. Along with Dr. Hone, and colleagues from Canada, the USA, and China, Larsson found the foot of an ancient mammal preserved between the ribs of a Microraptor.
"It’s so rare to find examples of food inside dinosaurs so every example is really important as it gives direct evidence of what they were eating," said Hone.The foot seemed to belong to a very small animal about the size of a . As per bone analysis, it appeared to be a mammal that primarily lived on the ground and was not the best climber. It made for an easy meal for the Microraptor that spent most of its time in the trees.Other Microraptor species havebirds, lizards, and fish. Now, with fresh evidence for eating animals, it is evident that the dinosaur enjoyed eating a variety of meals and wasn't too fussy about any given option.
"The great thing is that, like your housecat which was about the same size, Microraptor would have been an easy animal to live with but a terror if it got out as it would hunt everything from the birds at your feeder to the mice in your hedge or the fish in your pond," said Dr. Alex Dececchi from Mount Marty College.Gut contents are extremely important for inferring trophic interactions between extinct species.
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