Scientists from the University of Texas at Austin have solved a 150-million-year-old mystery surrounding the diets of dinosaurs after analysing an ancient set of teeth.
After examining tooth enamel chemistry, researchers discovered evidence that Jurassic-era dinosaurs divided up their diets in bizarre ways.
The scientists also uncovered that some dinosaurs were picky eaters, with different species opting for separate parts of plants to each other.
The calcium isotopes stored away in the enamel reveal the variety of foods eaten by the dinosaurs as plants have their own unique chemical signatures.
After examining tooth enamel chemistry, researchers discovered evidence that Jurassic-era dinosaurs divided up their diets in bizarre ways
|UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
The study's lead author Liam Norris suggests the findings help explain how so many colossal beasts could share the same close areas.
Mr Norris said: "The ecosystem that I studied has been a mystery for a long time because it has these giant herbivores all coexisting.
"The idea is that they were all eating different things, and now we have found proof of that."
The findings from the study were published in the Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology journal.
The study's lead author Liam Norris suggests the findings help explain how so many colossal beasts could share the same close areas
|GETTY
The team of researchers analysed four separate sets of teeth from the late Jurassic period of both herbivore and carnivore dinosaurs which inhabited the western US area.
The plant-eater teeth examined came from the Camarasaurus, Camptosaurus and the Diplodocus, in addition to the carnivorous Allosaurus.
The remains of the beasts were uncovered in the Carnegie Quarry deposit in Utah, believed to have been created from an intense ancient drought.
Professor at Jackson School's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Rowan Martindale said: "We were very lucky to be able to study fossils of dinosaurs that lived together and were all rapidly preserved in a single deposit.
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Scientists initially thought that big plant-munching dinosaurs were only able to live side-by-side through eating at different levels of a tree canopy
|GETTY
"The Jurassic tomb preserved a unique paleontological gem and these skeletons are beautifully displayed at Dinosaur National Monument."
Scientists initially thought that big plant-munching dinosaurs were only able to live side-by-side through eating at different levels of a tree canopy based on height.
However, Mr Norris' findings prove that preferences towards different parts of a plant played a key role in the varying diets too.
For example, the study suggests the Camptosaurus stuck to softer, nutrient-rich leaves and buds, while the Camarasaurus favoured conifers and tougher woody plants.
Mr Norris explained: "This differentiation in diet makes sense with what we see from the morphology of these animals: the different height, the different snout shape.
"Then, we bring in this geochemical data, which is a very concrete piece of evidence to add to that pot."
For the meat-eater, the examinations of the tooth enamel showed a similarity in calcium isotope values between the Allosaurus and an ancient crocodile species, showing an overlap in diet between the different creatures.
The results also indicated the Allosaurus may have eaten the three other large herbivorous dinosaurs that it shared the land with.