Hadrosaurs Snacked on Crustaceans

[ZoPteryx]

Saw this article in my news feed.  Makes sense that herbivorous dinosaurs would have eaten shellfish to sequester calcium for egg shell production during the breeding season.  I'm a little more dubious about the claim that they found those crustaceans (not bivalves?) in rotting wood.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/21/552387800/shellfish-surprise-common-herbivore-dinosaur-found-to-dabble-in-crustaceans?sc=tw

I'll post a link to the paper when it pops up. 

EDIT:  Here's the open access paper:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-11538-w

Looks like this association was found in more than just a few little coprolites.  I guess there really were wood boring crustaceans in the Cretaceous.  Very interesting.

[Halichoeres]

Maybe things like robber crabs were more common then.

[ZoPteryx]

Maybe things like robber crabs were more common then.

Do they live in wood though?  I think it'd be far more likely that the hadrosaur just happened to consume a crustacean and some wood in the hours before nature called.

Of course now you've got me thinking about what paleo-coconut crab diversity may have been like! 

[CityRaptor]

Makes sense. They are a calcium source. Many modern herbivores also add some protein to their diets. And some carnivores add fruit. So things are not as strict as usually depicted.

[ZoPteryx]

Added a link to the open access paper to the first post. 

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Something that caught my eye was the comment there Is no evidence to link the coprolite to hadrosaurs, the association was made by the amount of bones for the genus found in the direct area ....

[ceratopsian]

A very interesting read.

I suppose that will almost always be the way with coprolites re the identity of producer - it will almost inevitably be inference only by the very nature of what they are - similar to footprints but without even the cue of the number/shape of digits and claws etc.

[WarrenJB]

Interesting stuff. For terrestrial crustaceans found in rotting wood, I would've assumed isopods before decapods (and the authors don't come across overly sure themselves) but fair do's.

[Halichoeres]

Interesting stuff. For terrestrial crustaceans found in rotting wood, I would've assumed isopods before decapods (and the authors don't come across overly sure themselves) but fair do's.

Yeah, that's what I would have thought too!