Bottom-feeding plesiosaurs.
Elasmosaurid plesiosaurs were an important part of Cretaceous marine reptile communities and are generally considered to have been predators of small, agile, free-swimming fish and cephalopods. Two elasmosaurid specimens from Aptian and Albian deposits in Queensland, Australia, include fossilized gut contents dominated by benthic invertebrates: bivalves, gastropods, and crustaceans. Both specimens also contained large numbers of gastroliths (stomach stones). These finds point to a wider niche than has previously been supposed for these seemingly specialized predators and may also influence long-running controversy over the question of gastrolith function in plesiosaurs.
McHenry
Colin R
CR
School of Environmental and Life Sciences (Geology) University of Newcastle, New South Wales 2308, Australia. colin.mchenry@newcastle.edu.au
Cook
Alex G
AG
Wroe
Stephen
S
D000818:Animals; D003445:Crustacea; D004032:Diet; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005580:Fossils; D005766:Gastrointestinal Contents; D007448:Invertebrates; D008974:Mollusca; D011793:Queensland; D012104:Reptiles / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology