Unveiling the T. rex’s diet through fossilised dinosaur poop

Have you ever wondered what and how the Tyrannosaurus rex ate? Scientists can learn a lot about its diet by studying its poop (see graphic).

Pieces of bones found in fossilised dinosaur poop at a museum in Arizona called the Poozeum show that the T. rex probably swallowed its food in big pieces.

The Poozeum opened in May and has more than 7,000 coprolites, fossilised poop, from animals that lived millions of years ago. Some are like termite droppings, while others weigh as much as 9kg.

The president and curator of the Poozeum, George Frandsen, is an expert in the field. He said he bought his first chunk of coprolite when he was 18. “It was funny. It was gross,” he said. “But I learned very quickly it could tell us so much about our prehistoric past and how important they are to the fossil record.”

Frandsen said there is no need to worry about smells or germs. Those evaporated millions of years ago when the poop got covered by dirt and rocks, and replaced by minerals, making them hard as rock.

The museum also has a coprolite with a Guinness World Record for being the biggest poop ever found from a meat-eating dinosaur. It is more than 61cm long and over 15cm wide. Frandsen said it is believed to be from a T. rex because it was found where the species used to live.

Sample answers

Stop and think: It probably swallowed its food in big pieces.

Read and answer: Scientists study dinosaur poop because it helps them learn more about what they ate.