Mammalian feeding traces on a Sauropod Dinosaur bone from the Late Jurassic of northwestern China.
[sciencythoughts.blogspot.com]
For more than 160 million years, Mammals lived in the shadow of the Dinosaurs, remaining small and elusive with an average adult body size close to 100 g. Nonetheless, recent discoveries demonstrate that Mesozoic Mammals were ecologically diverse and occupied various ecological niches. They ranged from ground-dwelling generalists to specialists with semi-aquatic, fossorial, arboreal and even gliding habits. This ecological diversity suggests an equally varied diet, probably encompassing herbivory, insectivory, carnivory and omnivory. The reconstruction of the diet and feeding behaviour of Mesozoic Mammals is, however, largely based on circumstantial evidence such as tooth morphology. Direct evidence for feeding behaviour is scarce and so far limited to a stomach content from the Early Cretaceous, and four instances of feeding traces on bones from the Late Cretaceous.
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