Ottawa Herald in Ottawa, Kansas

First real dinosaur shifting from meat to plants

Paleontologists describe Falcarius utahensis from Utah as the earliest therizinosaur showing a transition from meat eating to plant based diet. The two acre Green River dig yielded bones revealing a 12 foot snout to tail length, 3 foot hip height, and 5 inch claws. The plant heavy anatomy includes a larger gut and longer neck while retaining meat eating traits. Researchers see it as a key example of how meat eaters evolved into plant eaters with some meat in diet possible.