Thirty-one carnivorous mammal species also had their bellies scrutinized, including living animals, such as a lion, as well as those long extinct, such as a saber-toothed cat.


Still, the research suggests that in tetrapods — four-limbed vertebrates — only mammalian herbivores have larger body cavities, raising questions about why that might be evolutionarily. “Everybody goes crazy about the long neck or the strange things” on an animal’s head, Clauss says. But few scientists have focused on the torso’s frame and how diet helps sculpt it over time. “This study emphasizes that the torso is an important part of overall body shape.”

Surprisingly, nonavian dinosaurs didn’t show even a hint of the same pattern. But the analysis was limited by fewer numbers of skeletons; only four of the 27 dinosaurs were carnivores.

Using 3-D scans of mounted skeletons, scientists measured the volume of the body cavity in 126 animal species. In mammals, herbivores’ bellies were about 1.5 times larger than those of carnivores. It’s thought that herbivores need bigger torsos to house a larger digestive tract for breaking down plants.




Going for the gut



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