A paper has come out recently showing that Allosaurus fragilis probably ate like a modern falcon, tugging flesh up-and-off carcasses, rather than tearing flesh with a side-to-side shake similar to modern crocodiles.
The star of this study, 'Big Al', is an 150 million year old (late Jurassic) fossil Allosaurus skeleton from the Morrison Formation in the USA. The authors looked for muscle attachment sites on the bones, combined with comparisons to modern birds and crocodiles anatomy, then digitally re-created the soft tissue around the neck and head.
The star of this study, 'Big Al', is an 150 million year old (late Jurassic) fossil Allosaurus skeleton from the Morrison Formation in the USA. The authors looked for muscle attachment sites on the bones, combined with comparisons to modern birds and crocodiles anatomy, then digitally re-created the soft tissue around the neck and head.
Above image: Digital reconstruction of 'Big Al' - the Allosaurus specimen used in the study. Image sourced from the Witmer Lab website.
Finally, they simulated the range of movement for the head and neck, given the placement of muscles and tendons. Not only did this model show that Big Al had a light and very flexible head and neck, but it also showed that the relatively low position of a specific neck muscle (the longissimus capitis superficialis) allowed the head to pull straight up and back, much like the feeding style of modern falcons. A picture (or video) tells a thousand words, so I recommend watching this animation of Big Al's muscle placement and feeding behaviour.
Now I know this story has been covered quite a few times already (including one of my favourite places: i09), but I wanted to point out something else. What's enjoyable about reading this research (9.7 MB PDF) and visiting the Witmer Lab page is not only the clever combination of mechanical engineering and biology to answer this feeding behaviour question, but the fact that they also have fun with their research.
A suitably terrified human scale! Image courtesy the Witmer Lab website.
It's re-assuring to see this: as strange as it might sound, I sometimes forget that my peers aren't super serious dour academics, they're just people. Fossil-obsessed and extremely bright people, but people nonetheless. Which is nice, because I'm people too!
| Archer: Woodhouse! What are you doing?! Woodhouse: Uh, sitting down, sir. Archer: What, at the table?! Malory: Sterling. Archer: Like people?! Malory: Sterling! Archer: What?! Look, he thinks he's people! |
Image from chrisnolansscarf.tumblr.com
