Researchers at Portland State University have uncovered evidence that giant dinosaur remains may have served as a crucial food source for apex predators during the Jurassic. Computer simulations indicate that scavenging adaptations could have played a significant role in the success of these species. The study appears in PLOS ONE and adds a new layer to our understanding of ancient ecosystems.
Jurassic carnivores inhabited environments abundant with both living prey and carrion. Biologists have long proposed that enormous carcasses, such as those left by sauropod dinosaurs, could have formed the main diet of large predators. To test this idea, the team built a model—a streamlined virtual representation of a dinosaur ecosystem—based on the fossil record of the Morrison Formation. This region includes the formidable predator Allosaurus and its massive sauropod prey, providing a concrete data set for the simulation.
Within the model, carnivores known as allosaurs were endowed with traits designed to improve hunting and scavenging efficiency. The results showed that when large carrion was plentiful, consuming it yielded higher energy returns than pursuing live prey. This finding suggests that predators in such ecosystems may have evolved specialized abilities to detect and exploit carcasses as a reliable nutrition source.
The researchers explained that even in the presence of prey, natural selection would favor scavengers if carrion offered a steady energy advantage. Allosaurus individuals likely faced times when sauropods faced environmental stress, allowing scavenging events to sustain large groups. They could store fat in their bodies and repeatedly capitalize on carrion during subsequent seasons. The study notes that a single sauropod carcass could supply calories sufficient to support dozens of allosaurs for extended periods, particularly in environments where sauropods were the most abundant dinosaurs. These insights help explain how energy availability could shape predator behavior over evolutionary timescales.
The team emphasizes that the model is a simplified abstraction of a highly complex system. If more variables were included, such as additional dinosaur species and ecological interactions, results could shift. Still, the approach provides a framework for understanding how the availability of carcasses might influence predators’ evolutionary pathways and their foraging strategies in ancient communities. This perspective complements traditional views of predator–prey dynamics by highlighting the potential importance of energy from carrion in shaping behavior and adaptation.
In related paleontological research, scientists are increasingly exploring how fossil evidence, including traces left by ancient diets, informs modern genetics. Although direct genome recovery from the Jurassic remains is not accessible, ongoing studies of fossilized materials and modern sequencing methods help illuminate how ancient ecosystems operated and how energy flows could have influenced evolutionary trajectories. The broader takeaway is that scavenging would have been a meaningful ecological pressure comparable to hunting in many prehistoric settings, guiding the evolution of anatomy, sensory capabilities, and social strategies among top predators.