Some young dinosaurs shed teeth, say experts

Some dinosaurs lost their teeth as they grew up, according to fossil evidence.

The hatchlings ate meat with their teeth, then used beaks to peck at plants as adults, say scientists.

The discovery is a surprise and has not been seen in any other reptile.

Limusaurus inextricabilis lived in China around 150 million years ago. The first fossilised remains of the animal were discovered about a decade ago.

"Initially, we believed that we found two different ceratosaurian dinosaurs from the Wucaiwan area, one toothed and the other toothless, and we even started to describe them separately," said Shuo Wang of Capital Normal University in Beijing, China, who led the research.

The palaeontologists then realised that the dinosaurs looked remarkably similar, except for the presence of teeth.

They found that the dinosaur lost its teeth over time, making it the first known reptile to do this.read more