Nothronychus Discovery Provokes the Question: Did Theropods Evolve from Vegetarians?
Nothronychus Discovery Provokes the Did Theropods Evolve from Vegetarians? Thursday July 16, 2009#spacer{clear:left}#abc #sidebar{margin-top:1.5em}zSB(3,3) It’s long been recognized that Therizinosaurus and Nothronychus were odd ducks, dinosaur-wise: these bipedal, pot-bellied, long-clawed, decidedly gangly looking beasts seemed neither to be true theropods nor true herbivores. Now, a new paper about a 93-million-year-old Nothronychus specimen dug up in Utah presents strong evidence that this dinosaur was both a theropod and a herbivore (or at the very least an omnivore with a strong preference for plants). The research team, led by Lindsay Zanno of the Field Museum
#spacer{clear:left}#abc #sidebar{margin-top:1.5em}zSB(3,3) It’s long been recognized that Therizinosaurus and Nothronychus were odd ducks, dinosaur-wise: these bipedal, pot-bellied, long-clawed, decidedly gangly looking beasts seemed neither to be true theropods nor true herbivores. Now, a new paper about a 93-million-year-old Nothronychus specimen dug up in Utah presents strong evidence that this dinosaur was both a theropod and a herbivore (or at the very least an omnivore with a strong preference for plants). The research team, led by Lindsay Zanno of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, compared the well-preserved remains of Nothronychus with the b
