Tracking the Diet of a 118-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur... Korea University Finds 'Atomic-Level Clues' in Teeth [Reading Science]

First Identification of Dinosaur Life Data vs. Fossilization Traces Using Atom Probe Tomography
Improved Accuracy in Reconstructing Diet, Habitats, and Migration Routes
Opening New Frontiers in Paleontology

What did dinosaurs eat, and where did they live? A Korean research team has presented a new analytical method capable of more accurately reconstructing the diet, habitats, and migration routes of dinosaurs by analyzing a 118-million-year-old dinosaur tooth at the atomic level.

Korea University announced on July 29 that a research team led by Seho Kim, Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Korea University, in collaboration with Sungjin Lee, PhD at the Institute for Basic Science, Seoul National University, and Kyuseon Jang, PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Germany, has succeeded in analyzing the tooth fossil of a Carcharodontosaurus-type theropod dinosaur from the Cretaceous period at the atomic level.

Analysis results of approximately 118 million-year-old Carcharodontosaurid dinosaur teeth from the Cretaceous period excavated on Jujiseom Island, Hadong, Gyeongnam using atom probe tomography (APT). The team successfully distinguished at the atomic level the areas within the enamel that preserved chemical information from when the dinosaur was alive and those altered during the fossilization process. Courtesy of the research team

Dinosaur teeth contain isotopic traces of the food they ate, the water they drank, and the regions where they lived during their lifetime. Carbon and nitrogen isotopes provide clues to diet and trophic level, while strontium helps infer habitat and migration routes. However, during the tens of millions of years spent buried underground, minerals and groundwater can infiltrate the fossils, mixing with the original information and presenting a problem for precise analysis.

The research team used atom probe tomography (APT), an instrument capable of analyzing the position and composition of individual atoms, to examine a dinosaur tooth from approximately 118 million years ago discovered in the Hasandong Formation of Jujiseom Island, Hadong, Gyeongnam.

The results showed that the enamel, the outer layer of the tooth, maintained its original crystal structure relatively well, whereas the inner dentin had been extensively altered during fossilization. For the first time, the team successfully distinguished, at the atomic level, the regions within the enamel preserving the dinosaur's original chemical information from those altered after fossilization.

Previously, the practice of analyzing both regions together often led to misinterpretation of the dinosaur's diet, habitats, and migration routes. This study is significant in that it establishes a method to selectively analyze only the information from the dinosaur's lifetime, providing a foundation for more accurate reconstructions of dinosaur ecology.

Research team photo. (From left) Seho Kim, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Korea University (corresponding author), Sungjin Lee, Ph.D. at the Basic Science Institute of Seoul National University (corresponding author), Kyuseon Jang, Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Germany (first author). Courtesy of Korea University

The researchers expect that by combining this technique with high-precision isotope analysis, it will be possible not only to reconstruct the diet and migration routes of dinosaurs, but also to restore paleoclimate and ecological environments of the era. They explained that this approach could potentially extend to direct dating of fossils using uranium-lead (U-Pb) isotope analysis.

Professor Seho Kim of Korea University stated, "This is the first case in which information from when a dinosaur was alive was clearly distinguished from changes created during the fossilization process at the atomic level. We anticipate that even a tiny fragment of a dinosaur fossil could open up a new research field for reconstructing the life history of dinosaurs from tens of millions of years ago."

The results of this study were published in the international journal 'Microscopy and Microanalysis,' specializing in the fields of microscopy and microanalysis.

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