Manitoba Researcher Helps Identify 290-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Vomit
In a discovery that combines groundbreaking science with a distinctly unpleasant subject matter, researchers have identified what may be the world's oldest fossilized predator vomit. At nearly 290 million years old, this remarkable find offers a rare window into the feeding behaviors of ancient land animals long before dinosaurs dominated the Earth.
A Prehistoric Time Capsule
The fossil, discovered at the Bromacker excavation site in Germany, is described in a new study published in Scientific Reports. Researchers say it represents the earliest confirmed example of fossilized vomit, known scientifically as regurgitalite, from a fully land-based ecosystem. Mark MacDougall, a paleontologist and assistant professor at Brandon University in Manitoba who co-authored the study, described the find as providing direct evidence of predator-prey relationships in a prehistoric time capsule.
"This fossil is extremely important for understanding how early land ecosystems worked," MacDougall said. "It's rare to get such direct evidence of who was eating whom nearly 300 million years ago. In this case, the predator clearly bit off more than it could stomach."
Advanced Analysis Reveals Ancient Secrets
Using CT scanning and chemical analysis, the international research team identified bones from at least three different animals within the regurgitated cluster:
- A small reptile
- A fast-moving lizard-like animal
- Part of a much larger plant-eater
Unlike coprolites, which are fossilized feces, regurgitalites preserve material that was expelled rather than fully digested. This crucial distinction allows researchers to examine partially intact skeletal remains that might otherwise have been broken down in the digestive process.
Ancient Predator Revealed
Evidence suggests the vomit came from a large predator, likely an early relative of mammals such as the sail-backed Dimetrodon. Though often mistaken for dinosaurs, these animals lived approximately 40 million years before the appearance of dinosaurs.
"These animals lived together, died together, and ended up in the same regurgitated pile, probably within days of each other," MacDougall explained. "That kind of detail is incredibly rare in the fossil record."
International Collaboration Uncovers Ecological Insights
The study was led by scientists from Germany's Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin and France's CNRS, with Brandon University playing a key role in interpreting the fossil and its ecological significance. Modern predators such as owls and wolves also expel indigestible material, but finding evidence of that behavior so far back in time is unusual. The fossil provides the first direct evidence of opportunistic feeding by a land predator from this ancient period.
Beyond its unusual preservation, the regurgitalite reveals how early land ecosystems functioned long before dinosaurs appeared. This discovery not only expands our understanding of prehistoric life but also demonstrates how even the most unexpected fossil finds can provide crucial insights into Earth's distant past.
