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| 6/23/2003 |
Jurassic park cannibalism
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11:09:30 AM
ST Paul, Minnesota, June 23 - The menu of a meat-eating Madagascan dinosaur regularly included members of its own species, scientists have revealed.
Fossil remains found on the African island have yielded the first conclusive proof of dinosaur cannibalism.
Teeth marks on bones showed that the 30ft-long two-legged carnivore Majungatholus Atopus often tucked into others of its own kind, as well as other dinosaurs.
Fossilised bones from two Majungatholus individuals bore distinctive sets of tooth marks that matched the size and spacing of teeth in Majungatholus jaws.
Smaller grooves were also found that fitted the sharp serrations on the dinosaur's blade-like teeth.
Only one other dinosaur, the small Triassic Theropod Coelophysis Bauri, has been suspected of cannibalism.
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