Fossilized dinosaur droppings found in central India show sauropod dinosaurs may have fed on grass between 65 million and 71 million years ago, refuting the theory that grasses emerged long after the dinosaur era, an international team of researchers reported in the journal Science to be published on Friday.

The discovery surprised scientists. The earliest grass fossils ever found could be traced back to about 55 million years ago. And the giant plant-eating sauropod dinosaurs were supposed to eat plants like ferns and palms, as they didn't have the special kind of teeth needed to grind up abrasive blades.

The team of Vandana Prasad of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany in Lucknow, India, studied the dinosaur coprolites, or fossilized droppings, of 65 million years ago.

They sent some photographs and samples to Caroline Stromberg of the Swedish Museum of Natural History, who spotted tiny particles of silica called phytoliths that have come from the grass family, including relatives of rice and bamboo and forage-type grasses.

Scientists said the diversity of the grasses suggest that grasses must have originated considerably earlier, well over 80 million years ago. The findings also suggest that rodent-like early mammals that roamed among the dinosaurs may have fed on grass. They had teeth looking like those of grass-eating animals today, but much smaller.

Source: Xinhua