So much of paleontology is "what did this beaked thing eat?" And then your best guess for years turns out to be so so so wrong.
Like Gastornis was thought to be a carnivore for decades and then carbon isotopes were like, "nah this thing was basically a giant goose honk honk".
Art by Ja Chirinos
Oviraptor was thought to be an egg eater, then much ink was spilled about whether it ate mollusks, and now it's thought to be an omnivore, but mostly a fruit/seed eater like a parrot.
Somehow this Adobe Stock image is the only art of an Oviraptor eating plants I can find. How is that?
And even birds with some teeth are getting in on these dietary mysteries.
Longipteryx was first thought to be a kingfisher-like hunter of aquatic prey, but it has since been found with seed contents in its guts, making it another surprise frugivore.
Photo by Xiaoli Wang
