Simulation suggests that traits for exploiting carrion might have been crucial for survival.
Carnivorous dinosaurs might have evolved to capitalize on the abundance of giant carcasses, according to recent research published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. This study, conducted by Cameron Pahl and Luis Ruedas of Portland State University, Oregon, along with their colleagues, proposes that the remains of enormous sauropod dinosaurs could have represented a significant source of sustenance for large predatory dinosaurs.
Agent-Based Model Analysis
Carnivorous dinosaurs lived in ecosystems rich with both living and dead prey. The authors hypothesize that giant carcasses, like those of sauropod dinosaurs, might have provided a major source of food for large carnivores.
To test this hypothesis, the researchers created an agent-based model, a simplified virtual simulation of a dinosaur ecosystem. This model was based on the ancient fauna of the In the model, carnivores (intended to simulate allosaurs) were assigned traits that would improve their hunting or scavenging abilities while obtaining energy from meat sources (simulating living prey or sauropod carcasses).
The model measured the evolutionary fitness of these simulated carnivores and found that, when large sources of sauropod carrion were available, scavenging was more profitable than hunting, suggesting that carnivores in such ecosystems might have evolved specialized traits to help them detect and exploit large carcasses.
Evolving Scavenging Behaviors
The authors stress that this model represents a simplified abstract of a complex system, and that the results might be altered with the inclusion of more variables, such as additional dinosaur DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290459