Baby Sauropods Were the Potato Chips of the Jurassic Era

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TThe closest thing to an actual Jurassic park is the Morrison Formation, a vast deposit of fossil-rich sedimentary rocks dating from the Jurassic period spanning several southwestern states. While the dinosaurs discovered there have captivated paleontologists for more than a century, they are only now beginning to get a more complete picture of the ecosystem in which they thrived.

Paleontologists led by Cassius Morrison of University College London used data from the Morrison Formation to construct a Jurassic food web. By analyzing the wear of the dinosaurs’ teeth, the chemical composition of their remains, or even the fossilized remains of their last meal, the team was able to reconstruct the ecological links between the species. They published their findings in the Newsletter of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.

So, what was on the Jurassic menu?

A blow to everyone who grew up watching The land before timethe team discovered that the helpless baby sauropods were a vital food source for several species. Although these long-necked behemoths were among the largest land animals that ever lived, they began life relatively small and free from parental supervision, an irresistible combination for Jurassic predators.

Read more: “T. Rex was a slacker”

“Size alone would make it difficult for sauropods to care for their eggs without destroying them, and the evidence suggests that, just like baby turtles today, young sauropods were not cared for by their parents,” Morrison said in a statement. “Life was cheap in this ecosystem, and that of predators like the Allosaurus were probably fueled by eating these baby sauropods.

The team also said that the decline in sauropod numbers 70 million years later may have caused the ecological pressure that led to the Jurassic’s most famous killing machine: Tyrannosaurus rexes. According to the team, as sauropod populations declined, larger prey might become more attractive, paving the way for adaptations such as stronger bite force, larger size and better vision that allowed them to prey on dinosaurs like Triceratops.

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Main image: Fabio pastori / Wikimedia Commons.

• Jake Currie

  Published on February 2, 2026

  Jake Currie is a writer based in Brooklyn, New York.