(ORDO NEWS) — Paleontologists from the Geological Survey of the Utah State Park Museum of Natural History discovered bromalite, the fossilized remains of an animal’s stomach contents, while excavating in the southeastern part of the Morrison Formation in Utah. The researchers published their study in the journal Palaios.
According to scientists, the find belongs to the late Jurassic period (from 164 to 145 million years ago). In the area where the researchers found it, no animal bones had previously been found.
“Usually there are no animal remains at this site, only plants. It is noteworthy that the bones that we found were not scattered among the stones, but were concentrated in one place. These are the first bones we have ever seen in this formation,” said paleontologist John Foster, lead author of the work.
According to the scientists, they were initially unable to determine that there was vomit in front of them.
Upon closer examination, most of the material turned out to be the remains of a frog and a salamander, which, according to scientists, could have been eaten by an ancient fish. In all, about a dozen bone fragments were found, according to the study.
There is no way to know for sure which animal species regurgitated their lunch millions of years ago, the scientists say, but further analysis could identify other components of partially digested animals that were ingested by a predator.
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