• Email Bluesky Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Whatsapp X You have full access to this article via your institution. • HelloNaturereaders, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day?Sign up here. • Tyrannoroter heberti, a reptile-like animal that lived in the Late Carboniferous Period, was probably around 30 centimetres in length with a stocky build. • (Illustration by Hannah Fredd) Microsaur was one of the earliest herbivores A fossilized skull dated to more than 300 million years ago has been identified as belonging toTyrannoroter heberti, a newly described ‘microsaur’ species andone of the oldest-known vertebrate herbivores. • From a 3D reconstruction of the skull, researchers found that the species had specialized teeth that resemble those of other plant-eating animals and that had been worn down from a grinding motion consistent with herbivory. • The discovery suggests that vertebrate herbivores emerged around several million years earlier than scientists had previously estimated.
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- Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here. Microsaur was one of the earliest herbivores A fossilized skull dated to more than 300 million years ago has been identified as belonging to Tyrannoroter heberti, a newly described ‘microsaur’ species and one of the oldest-known vertebrate herbivores. From a 3D reconstruction of the skull, researchers found that the species had specialized teeth that resemble those of other plant-eating animals and that had been worn down from a grinding motion consistent with herbivory. The discovery suggests
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