Velociraptor et al

A fossil of Velociraptor has been found with contents of its last meal in its stomach, a bone from a large pterosaur.

This has sparked a lot of debate among palaeontologists, as it was thought that Velociraptor was a hunter rather than a scavenger (the pterosaur being too large for it to hunt itself).

According to Dr David Hone, University College Dublin:

"Gut contents are pretty rare and pterosaur bones are rather fragile and don't preserve well, so it is an unusual find."

This got me thinking about other unusual finds in fossils, mostly ichthyosaurs... like this fossilised embryo in Bristol museum:

Although fossil embryos such as these are generally rare, in ichthyosaurs they are relatively common. This has enabled palaeontologists to determine that the creature was viviparous - it gave birth to live young.

Here is another pic of an ichthyosaur, this time with the contents of its last meal preserved:

This is a Whitby ichthyosaur, and although you cant see it well from the picture it has several nicely preserved belemnites and pyritised ammonites in amongst the stomach contents.

All the pictures here were taken by moi, mostly as part of my university travels - if you're stuck for time before a train home, checking out the museum is a good idea =D It also helps when trying to figure out which zoo/palaeo departments have the best research projects, as you can compare the quality and range of the specimens on display.