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Turning the (dinner) tables: #MesozoicMammals nibbling on dinosaurs! This fossil was found in L. #Jurassic China, & shows tiny bites on a dino bone. This is cool, but not a surprise. Today's small #mammals also gnaw on their larger counterparts... [1/5] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-020-01688-9
![Turning the (dinner) tables: #MesozoicMammals nibbling on dinosaurs! This fossil was found in L. #Jurassic China, & shows tiny bites on a dino bone. This is cool, but not a surprise. Today's small #mammals also gnaw on their larger counterparts... [1/5] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-020-01688-9](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EdwpgWDXkAItrFn.jpg "Turning the (dinner) tables: #MesozoicMammals nibbling on dinosaurs! This fossil was found in L. #Jurassic China, & shows tiny bites on a dino bone. This is cool, but not a surprise. Today's small #mammals also gnaw on their larger counterparts... [1/5] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-020-01688-9")
For example, this is a vertebra (probably roe deer) nibbled along the edges, perhaps by a wood mouse (there was a mouse hang-out nearby). [2/5]
![For example, this is a vertebra (probably roe deer) nibbled along the edges, perhaps by a wood mouse (there was a mouse hang-out nearby). [2/5]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Edwpg6DX0AAxZA1.jpg "For example, this is a vertebra (probably roe deer) nibbled along the edges, perhaps by a wood mouse (there was a mouse hang-out nearby). [2/5]")
#Rodents like mice have constantly growing incisors which need to be worn down to keep them in good condition. Gnawing and bruxing - grinding the incisors against each other - helps keep them sharp and trimmed. [3/5]
But #MesozoicMammals were NOT #rodents – rodents only emerged ~50 mya, after the K-Pg mass extinction. Ancient mammals probably nibbled dino bones for food, getting last scraps of flesh or obtaining minerals. 
Mark Garlick [4/5]
![But #MesozoicMammals were NOT #rodents – rodents only emerged ~50 mya, after the K-Pg mass extinction. Ancient mammals probably nibbled dino bones for food, getting last scraps of flesh or obtaining minerals. Mark Garlick [4/5]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Edwp2QMXsAAxkxG.jpg "But #MesozoicMammals were NOT #rodents – rodents only emerged ~50 mya, after the K-Pg mass extinction. Ancient mammals probably nibbled dino bones for food, getting last scraps of flesh or obtaining minerals. Mark Garlick [4/5]")
Mark Garlick [4/5]
Although not a new discovery, this is the oldest example of small mammals chomping on dino bones (others were #Cretaceous), so it’s still quite cool! The bone is a sauropod rib too – 1 of the smallest tetrapods feeding on 1 of the largest! #FoodChainBeDamned [5/5]
![Although not a new discovery, this is the oldest example of small mammals chomping on dino bones (others were #Cretaceous), so it’s still quite cool! The bone is a sauropod rib too – 1 of the smallest tetrapods feeding on 1 of the largest! #FoodChainBeDamned [5/5]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EdwqDK8XoAEiNMm.png "Although not a new discovery, this is the oldest example of small mammals chomping on dino bones (others were #Cretaceous), so it’s still quite cool! The bone is a sauropod rib too – 1 of the smallest tetrapods feeding on 1 of the largest! #FoodChainBeDamned [5/5]")
