, but was even more dramatic than the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
Rhynchosaurs helped set the scene for new types of ecologies as dinosaurs became dominant, followed by the“I first studied the rhynchosaurs years ago and I was amazed to find that in many cases they dominated their ecosystems,” co-author and University of Bristol paleontologist Mike Benton . “If you found one fossil, you found hundreds. They were the sheep or antelopes of their day, and yet they had specialized dental systems that were apparently adapted for dealing with masses of tough plant food.”The team compared examples of earlier rhynchosaurs like the ones unearthed in Devon, with later-occurring samples from Argentina and Scotland. They were able to see how their teeth developed over time, and eventually how this unique dentistry allowed the species to diversify twice.
Ultimately, another period of climate change and especially major changes in the kinds of plants available for the reptiles to eat, allowed the dinosaurs to take over and the rhynchosaurs