A new species of lizard found in a dinosaur's stomach

[Logo7]

A new genus of lizard has been described from nearly complete remains found inside the stomach of a new specimen of the feathered dinosaur Microraptor zhaoianus originating from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota of northeastern China. The new genus has been given the name Indrasaurus wangi ("Wang's Indra lizard"), with the genus name originating from Indra, a god in the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism who was once swallowed by a dragon during a battle, and the Greek word "saurus," meaning "lizard," and the species name originating from Professor Wang Yuan, a member of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the director of the Paleozoological Museum of China who is an expert on the many ancient reptiles from the region. The new genus has teeth that are distinct from any other lizard known in the Jehol Biota, thus helping to expand the diversity of Cretaceous lizards and possibly suggesting a unique diet in this specific genus. This find represents the fourth known specimen of Microraptor that preserves stomach contents, showing that the animal was an opportunistic predator. The find also shows how Microraptor consumed its prey, as the lizard's nearly complete and articulated body showed that it was swallowed whole and headfirst in a similar manner to how modern carnivorous birds and lizards swallow their prey. The find also suggests that Microraptor did not produce pellets like Anchiornis did, suggesting that the dinosaur-bird evolutionary history contained extreme homoplasy, with numerous traits independently evolving multiple times in closely related groups. Finally, this new find, along with 19 other predator-prey relationships known through stomach contents in the Jehol Biota, has been used to help create a food web of the ecosystem, which indicates that fish may have been the most important food source for secondary and tertiary consumers. Here is an image of the fossil used to describe the new genus, a reconstruction of the event by paleoartist Doyle Trankina, and a link to the paper describing the new genus.




Paper (abstract only): https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)30713-4?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982219307134%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

[Halichoeres]

Now that's cool, named after a character who was swallowed by a dragon. This is the sort of animal that I always hope PNSO will make into a figure, but they probably never will. Glad to see you continuing to post on this board!

[Logo7]

Now that's cool, named after a character who was swallowed by a dragon. This is the sort of animal that I always hope PNSO will make into a figure, but they probably never will. Glad to see you continuing to post on this board!

Never say never. PNSO has gifted us with several extremely obscure creatures before, including several non-dinosaurian reptiles, so I wouldn't be too surprised if this new animal eventually becomes part of their line. As for me continuing to post here, I always enjoy posting the paleontology news that is often overlooked in the news cycle, so you can expect more new studies and new creatures like this in the future.

[Sim]

I'm late but I have to say this is very interesting and it's hilarious a new species has been discovered in the form of food inside another animal.  It's interesting to see how varied Microraptor's diet was: a lizard, fish, mammal, bird.