Scientists struggle to fit this strange vegetarian dinosaur into the family tree
By Carolyn GramlingAug. 15, 2017 , 7:01 PM
When scientists said in 2015 they had found a plant-eating theropod dinosaur, it was as if a vegetarian had crashed a meat lovers’ barbecue. Almost all theropods—the group of fierce predators that included Tyrannosaurus rex—were hypercarnivorous, eating a diet of more than 70% meat. Now, researchers are reporting that the dinosaur in question—the parrot-beaked Chilesaurus diegosuarezi—wasn’t a theropod after all, and instead belonged to a group of primarily plant eaters called ornithischians. They say it might even be a missing link between the two groups. But other scientists aren’t so sure the simplest answer is the right one.
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/08/scientists-struggle-fit-strange-vegetarian-dinosaur-family-tree
