TY - JOUR
T1 - Paleontology: Bottom-feeding plesiosaurs
AU - McHenry, Colin
AU - Cook, Alex G
AU - Wroe, Stephen
PY - 2005
Y1 - 2005
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/record/display.url?eid=2-s2.0-26444443523&origin=inward&txGid=_PH75ciqysDOMfcY-6UYrha%3a71
U2 - 10.1126/science.1117241
DO - 10.1126/science.1117241
M3 - Article
SN - 0036-8075
VL - 310
SP - 75
EP - 75
JO - Science
JF - Science
IS - 5745
ER -