This is an interesting hypothesis, but let us not forget the possibility
that the fish in the belly could be post-mortem associations. (After
all, finding a gar in the belly of a hadrosaur is not evidence of
piscivory in duckbills!)
On 2016-08-28 09:46, Brian Lauret wrote:
> I think it is worth mentioning that according to Victoria Arbour, who
> researches ankylosaurs, Little L's plastron is actually misidentified
> belly scales (see
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__pseudoplocephalus.com_2014_04_02_scaling-2Dup_&d=DQICAg&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=ls3_qEyVOCCJjjGHPq-2jZenRkmxvhyvYrseiF2u8eI&s=k3Pduly9AngRzJfsGQ8IL68PPrWDNLQZxYaP3R2QK0Y&e= > [2]). I have no opinion on the matter.
Arbor provides a close up photo of the supposed armor on that link. Note
that it is NOT like the plastron of a turtle or the belly armor of some
placodonts. I strongly suspect that she is correct. (And this probably
IS the case of the remarkable preservation you refer to in the next
paragraph).
It is from the Yixian, but keep in mind that preservation in any
unit--even across the same bedding plane on a meter-scale--can be
radically different. (These sites are remarkable because they CAN
preserve fine details, not because they MUST preserve them. :-) ).
--
Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Email:
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Senior Lecturer, Vertebrate Paleontology
Office: Geology 4106, 8000 Regents Dr., College Park MD 20742
Dept. of Geology, University of Maryland
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