Researchers from an Italian university examined how carnivorous dinosaurs hunted and fed in North America during the Jurassic era, roughly 150 million years ago. The team, based at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, published its findings in a peer reviewed study within the journal Paleontology and Evolutionary Science (PES).
The scientists focused on bite marks preserved on the bones of gigantic sauropods, including well known species such as Diplodocus and Brontosaurus. Through detailed analysis of these marks, they inferred that the majority were made by theropods, a diverse branch of meat eating dinosaurs that encompassed predators like Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus, and the iconic Tyrannosaurus rex. This approach helps reconstruct predator prey dynamics in a prehistoric ecosystem and sheds light on the interactions that shaped late Jurassic faunas.
By comparing the depth, spacing, and pattern of the bite damage, the researchers assessed whether some injuries could have been healed, a sign of longer survival after a clash with a hunter. The results indicated that the examined bites showed no healing signs. This observation supports two possible interpretations: either predatory attacks generally proved fatal for the victims, or the theropods frequently acted as scavengers, consuming large carcasses that they discovered rather than taking live prey. The evidence favors the scavenging scenario as a common behavior among these theropods when confronted with abundant carrion, though it does not completely rule out the hunting of living herbivores.
Overall, the study adds to the growing picture of ancient ecosystems, illustrating how some of the planet’s largest terrestrial animals interacted. It contributes to understanding the ecological roles of gigantic dinosaurs and how scavenging and hunting strategies coexisted within a complex food web of the Jurassic world.
In the broader context, researchers emphasize that bone markings tell a story about behavior, energy transfer, and ecological niches. The findings encourage ongoing investigations into how carnivorous dinosaurs influenced the survival and evolution of enormous herbivores, as well as how scavenging dynamics may have affected burial and fossil preservation patterns across different regions and time periods.