Dinosaur-era flying reptile's fossil reveals first direct evidence of plant diet
The fossil belongs to a species of pterosaur called sinopterus atavismus, unearthed in northeastern China. According to the study, its stomach contained phytoliths—tiny, rigid mineral structures produced by plants—suggesting it had been feeding on vegetation.
Scientists also found small quartz crystals, which the reptile may have ingested to help break down its food, similar to modern birds that swallow stones for digestion.
Prehistoric flying reptile had stones and plants in its stomach
For millions of years before birds took to the skies, pterosaurs dominated the airspace as the first vertebrates to achieve powered flight. These extinct flying reptiles lived from the Late Triassic period about 240 million years ago until the end of the Cretaceous period around 66 million years ago. While often mistaken for dinosaurs, species such as pterodactyls and pteranodons belonged to their own distinct group.
"The first occurrence of phytoliths, associated with gastroliths, in the stomach contents confirms the herbivory of Sinopterus. It is the first time that such structures have been discovered in pterosaurs," the team behind the study stated in the research paper.
Researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences informed that among the several questions surrounding these flying reptiles is their dietary habit, which remains poorly understood, the South China Morning Post reported.
The team explained that scientists have long debated what pterosaurs ate, with theories ranging from insects, fish, meat and plants, and even the possibility that some species filter-fed like whales—an uncertainty that has persisted because fossilized evidence of their meals is extremely rare.
Fossil preserved in shale slab, captured delicate details
Although paleontologists have studied pterosaur fossils for decades, only five confirmed cases of stomach contents have been identified in earlier, non-pterodactyloid species and those mostly contained fish remains.
The exceptionally rare, nearly complete specimen of sinopterus was unearthed by researchers from IVPP in China's Liaoning province, within a Lower Cretaceous geological formation. This species belongs to the tapejaridae family, a group of toothless pterosaurs. The fossil was preserved in a fine shale slab, a type of compacted mudstone known for capturing even the most delicate details of ancient life.
The research team, which included experts from Shenyang Normal University and the National Museum of Brazil, used specialized 3D X-ray imaging to analyze the fossil.
Inside the body cavity, the team found a fine, claylike material that looked like undigested plant matter. This material contained tiny rigid structures known as phytoliths, which form inside plant cells and can survive long after the rest of the plant has decayed.
According to David Martill, a paleontologist at the University of Portsmouth who was not involved in the research, this extraordinarily rare discovery—the kind that happens once in a century—overturns the long-held belief that these fierce-looking winged reptiles were purely carnivorous.
You can view the study here.
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