Investigating gut contents of the leptocleidian plesiosaur Umoonasaurus demoscyllus using micro-CT imaging

Joshua M. White; Aleese Barron; Matthew R. McCurry; Tim Denham

doi:10.1080/03115518.2023.2194944

Investigating gut contents of the leptocleidian plesiosaur Umoonasaurus demoscyllus using micro-CT imaging

Joshua M. White, Aleese Barron, Matthew R. McCurry, Tim Denham

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The holotype of Umoonasaurus demoscyllus (AM F.99374) is one of the most complete plesiosaur skeletons ever discovered in Australia. It preserves a gastric mass in the pectoral girdle region that has not yet been documented in detail. Here, we use high resolution micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) to image the gut contents of this specimen. These comprise 17 vertebrae from an unidentified teleost, together with at least 60 rounded gastroliths averaging about 5 mm in maximum length. Our study demonstrates the potential for 3D tomographic imaging to investigate Mesozoic marine reptile diets and ecology.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	206-210
Number of pages	5
Journal	Alcheringa
Volume	47
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2023.2194944
Publication status	Published - 21 Mar 2023

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abstract = "The holotype of Umoonasaurus demoscyllus (AM F.99374) is one of the most complete plesiosaur skeletons ever discovered in Australia. It preserves a gastric mass in the pectoral girdle region that has not yet been documented in detail. Here, we use high resolution micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) to image the gut contents of this specimen. These comprise 17 vertebrae from an unidentified teleost, together with at least 60 rounded gastroliths averaging about 5 mm in maximum length. Our study demonstrates the potential for 3D tomographic imaging to investigate Mesozoic marine reptile diets and ecology.",

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Investigating gut contents of the leptocleidian plesiosaur Umoonasaurus demoscyllus using micro-CT imaging

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