By Sohaib Shams
Researchers have identified a new dinosaur species, Infernogallus jamesi, as the first known fruit-eating dinosaur. The toothless, turkey-sized creature lived approximately 66 million years ago near the end of the Cretaceous Period in what is now North Dakota and Montana.
Discovery Details
The species name translates to "hell chicken," referencing its avian traits and the Hell Creek rock formation where its fossils were unearthed. Measuring roughly 5 feet (1.5 meters) in length and weighing close to 25 pounds (11.3 kg), the recovered remains include an almost complete skeleton alongside separate palate and jaw bones. The geological zone extends across Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming and is renowned for prominent dinosaur discoveries.
Habitat and Contemporaries
Infernogallus likely consumed soft plants and fruit within a subtropical coastal floodplain. This habitat was shared with species such as Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, and Ankylosaurus. Although no direct skin or plumage impressions were preserved, scientists suspect the dinosaur was feathered based on evidence from related species.
Classification and Significance
Classified as a theropod, Infernogallus belongs to the broader group containing Tyrannosaurus rex, all carnivorous dinosaurs, several plant-eating offshoots, and the ancestors of modern birds. "This definitely expands the range of lifestyles we thought dinosaurs had, and it shows how adaptable theropods were," said paleontologist Greg Funston of Stony Brook University, lead author of the research published in Nature Communications.
Flowering Plants and Seed Dispersal
Fruits represent the reproductive elements of flowering plants, or angiosperms, which emerged during the earlier Cretaceous roughly 130 to 140 million years ago. The discovery indicates that certain dinosaurs may have maintained an intertwined ecological relationship with these emerging plants. "It has been proposed before that some groups of dinosaurs ate fruits, but there was never evidence to back it up," said study co-author Thomas Dudgeon, a postdoctoral researcher at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.
Three Key Structural Traits
Researchers identified three main structural traits confirming the frugivorous diet: jaw muscle arrangements designed for back-and-forth chewing, a flexible joint allowing forward jaw sliding, and a complex system of beak ridges and grooves tailored to shear and mash soft vegetation. "We see these features separately in birds and turtles today that eat soft foods, like the fig-eating vulturine parrot or green sea turtles that chew soft sea grass. But no living animal has all three adaptations, showing just how specialized Infernogallus was," Funston said.
Chewing Versus Stomach Stones
The specimen demonstrates the versatility of beaks over traditional teeth. Unlike most plant-eating theropods that relied on swallowed stomach stones, known as gastroliths, to break down food, Infernogallus and its fellow caenagnathids ground their food through active chewing. Potential food sources included diverse berries and drupes — a category of fruit containing central stones, such as modern peaches, cherries, olives, and mangoes.
Ecological Role
Frugivorous creatures perform a vital function for angiosperms through seed dispersal. "Mammals and birds would probably also have eaten fruit, but they didn't show the same kinds of specializations for a frugivorous diet that Infernogallus does, so it might have been a less important resource for them," Funston said. He added that more evidence is needed before confidently linking caenagnathids to the spread of large-seeded fruits.
