Dinosaurs may have consumed seafood washed onto ancient beaches

A new study published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution suggests that dinosaurs and their prey may have consumed seafood washed up on ancient beaches. Researchers identified this through carbon isotope analysis in fossilized teeth and bones.

By examining the ratio of light (C-12) and heavy (C-13) carbon isotopes, scientists found that coastal assemblages of dinosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, and fish possessed higher carbon isotope values than land-locked species. This chemical fingerprint indicates that marine resources were incorporated into their bodies through the food chain.

This process, known as marine subsidization, occurs when storms wash marine matter ashore, providing a supplemental food source for terrestrial organisms. Dr. Clayton Forster, a geologist at the University of Arkansas, noted that coastal organisms in the Cretaceous greenhouse climates relied on these marine resources in a manner similar to modern organisms.