Paleontology Predatory dinosaurs preyed on young sauropods
Some herbivorous dinosaurs reached gigantic sizes - attacking them was risky. The offspring of these sauropods, on the other hand, were easy prey for the carnivores of the time, as an international research team has concluded from analyzing fossils.
31.01.2026, 04:43
SDA
The team led by Cassius Morrison from University College London analyzed the so-called Dry Mesa Dinosaur Quarry in the US state of Colorado. An astonishing number of dinosaur fossils accumulated in this formation 150 million years ago over a period of around 10,000 years - including at least six sauropod species such as Diplodocus, Brachiosaurus and Apatosaurus - as well as carnivores with partially preserved stomach contents.
Measuring up to 30 meters in length and weighing dozens of tons, the herbivorous sauropods were the largest animals ever to stomp across the earth.
"Pretty horrific injuries"
From the analyses, the team in the "New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin" deduced details about their lifestyle and feeding habits. "Adult sauropods like Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus were longer than a blue whale. When they walked, the earth shook," says first author Morrison. "But their eggs were only a foot long, and their offspring took many years to grow after hatching."
Due to their size alone, sauropods would not have been able to take care of the eggs, they say. Their offspring were therefore unprotected - similar to newly hatched sea turtles. Predators such as the ten-metre-long Allosaurus would have benefited from this. "Some Allosaurus fossils show pretty horrific injuries, such as those caused by the tail spines of a Stegosaurus," says co-author William Hart from Hofstra University in the US state of New York. In comparison, the offspring were easy prey.
