FOUND: MEAT-EATING DINO WHO TURNED VEGETARIAN.

Scientists studying a dinosaur called the limusaurus have made a surprising discovery - it developed sharp teeth for eating meat soon after it was born, but lost them as it grew up and became a vegetarian. By comparing thirteen different fossils, researchers were able to observe the growth stages of the slnder-bodied, short-legged dinosaur that live in what is now East-asia. They found the limusaurus, whose name means "mud lizard", had teeth in its early years, suggesting it had an omnivorous diet, including meat. These gradually disappeared to make way for a beak instead as it transitioned to a plant-based diet in adulthood, making it the first known reptile to loose teeth during its development.
Shuo Wang, a paleontologist at Capital Norman University in Beijing, said he and his team had discovered "a very rare, very interesting phenomenon". "Toothed jaws in juvenile individuals transition to a completely toothless beaked jaw in more mature individuals during development", he added. The researchers reconstructed the growth of the limusaurus, a type of ceratosaurian theropod, between the ages of less than a year and 10 years old. Wang and his team began collecting limusaurus fossils in 2001, but did not immediately realise they were from the same type of dinosaur because they all looked so different.
The findings, published in the journal 'Current Biology', could provide significant insight into the evolution of the beak, the researchers said.
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