Paleontologists have discovered a giant sea creature from the dinosaur era with 289 stones in its gut. How did they get there? The plesiosaur swallowed them.
Ouch, that must hurt! Not for a Dolichorhynchops plesiosaur apparently.
It seems as though the stones served some sort of digestive purpose, helping to grind up bits of shell or bony material within the gut, according to scientists.
Stomach stones, technically known as "gastroliths," are fairly common, but, even the scientists agree, 289 is an exceptionally large number! Some dinosaurs like sauropods also swallowed gastroliths.
Plesiosaurs were NOT dinosaurs, even though they looked a bit like underwater dinosaurs. Plesiosaur behaviour was more comparable to that of modern day sea turtles and seals, but the prehistoric animals weren't at all related to turtles and seals.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
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