Strange beaked 'hell chicken' is the first fruit-eating dinosaur

For a long time, paleontologists lacked clear proof that fruit was ever on the dinosaur menu. That changed with the identification of Infernogallus jamesi, a newly described species whose name translates to "hell chicken." Uncovered from the Hell Creek rock formation in Montana and North Dakota, this creature is the first confirmed fruit-eating dinosaur known to science.

The Discovery

Living roughly 66 million years ago near the end of the Cretaceous Period, Infernogallus jamesi inhabited a subtropical coastal floodplain. It shared this environment with famous dinosaurs such as the apex predator Tyrannosaurus, the three-horned Triceratops, and the armored Ankylosaurus. The fossil remains, which consist of a nearly complete skeleton alongside jaw and palate bones, belong to a group of theropods known as caenagnathids.

What Scientists Found

This toothless dinosaur measured about 5 feet (1.5 meters) long and weighed around 25 pounds (11.3 kg). Though no feathers were preserved on the fossil, scientists believe it was feathered like its close relatives. It possessed a parrot-like head with distinct physical features adapted for mashing soft food:

• Jaw muscles positioned to drive a back-and-forth chewing movement.
• A sliding jaw joint that allowed the lower jaw to shift forward.
• Ridges and grooves along its beak designed to crush and shear soft vegetation like berries and drupes.

While most plant-eating theropods used stomach stones called gastroliths to grind up food, Infernogallus chewed its food directly using its specialized beak.

Why It Matters

Flowering plants first appeared between 130 and 140 million years ago, introducing a completely new food source to terrestrial ecosystems. While researchers previously hypothesized that certain dinosaurs ate fruit, Infernogallus provides the first concrete evidence of a frugivorous diet among dinosaurs. This discovery demonstrates how adaptable theropods were and suggests these animals may have played an early role in spreading plant seeds across prehistoric landscapes.

Source: dinosaur fossil discovery - BingNews · Published October 31, 2026 · Photo by Ulf Sandström on Unsplash