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A Dinosaur Discovery
New Study Says Some Dinosaurs Had Beaks Like Modern Ducks
 Listen to Allison Aubrey's report for All Things Considered
 View a photo gallery of Gallimimus fossils
Aug. 29, 2001 -- A recently discovered fossil from Mongolia shows that some dinosaurs had beaks like modern ducks. Described in the science journal Nature by a joint American-Canadian research team, the finding implies that some of these ostrich-like dinosaurs, called Gallimimus, had a wider variety of feeding behaviors than previously thought.
The skeleton described in the study was found last summer in the Gobi Desert. It was discovered by Pete Mackavicky, a 29-year-old assistant curator of dinosaurs at The Field Museum in Chicago. On All Things Considered, NPR's Allison Aubrey takes a closer look at the finding.
The skull of the Mongolian specimen contains soft tissues, revealing traces of beak along the edges of their jaws. The beak was probably made of keratin, the same material found in bird beaks as well as human hair and fingernails.
It also has a remarkable feature never seen before on a dinosaur fossil: a thin, comb-like plate inside the jaw. The researchers say it is strikingly similar to the filter-feeding structure in a duck's bill which allows an animal to strain food particles and tiny invertebrates from water and sediment.
"This is the first time we've seen this structure in a dinosaur," says Dr. Mark Norell, the lead author of the study and the chairman of paleontology division at the American Museum of Natural History. He adds that the finding suggests this type of dinosaur didn't prey on small animals but rather fed on little bits of crustaceans or algae at riverbeds or ponds.
Other Resources
• Visit the official Web site of the American Museum of Natural History.
• Check out The Journal of Dinosaur Paleontology, which has an extensive list of published articles and sites on dinosaurs.
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