Many now know that birds have evolved from reptiles, and specifically from dinosaurs. Researchers have found a dinosaur that could possibly be a link to birds today. Early dinosaur evolution showed why birds have no teeth.
Birds today have beaks but are toothless. Early birds have been shown to have teeth. Most dinosaurs have teeth. One particular dinosaur though has been found to have no teeth. Scientists are now looking at the dinosaur species to find clues as to how birds evolved without teeth.
The dinosaur has been identified to be Limasaurus inextricabilis. A group of 19 of the dinosaurs has been found in China in what is known as a death trap, which is mud where they could not get out from and eventually died there. The dinosaur fossils found there are from a baby dinosaur all the way up to adults.
The discovery of the Limasaurus fossils was made in Xinjiang province in China. James Clark, co-author of the study and the Ronald Weintraub Professor of Biology at the George Washington University's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences said that it is rare to find dinosaur fossils that range from babies to adults. He also said that the shift in the anatomy of Limasaurus shows that its diet also changed very much.
Limasaurus is a theropod, the same group of dinosaurs that birds would come from, according to GW Today. Birds share many traits that theropods have, especially in their hips. Limasaurus, in particular, is special because of its toothless adults.
Baby Limasaurus has been speculated to be omnivores or carnivores, as Science Daily reports. As Limasaurus became older, they lost their teeth and would have to shift diet in order to survive. Limasaurus might be the link that shows how birds lost their teeth. Early birds still have teeth, but gradually evolved to lose them.
Scientists are still looking at how birds have evolved from dinosaurs. There might be more clues to it, as early dinosaur evolution showed why birds have no teeth. Evolution is important, especially for endangered animals such as the ring-tailed lemur.
