Stony Brook-led team discovers first known fruit-eating dinosaur nicknamed "Hell Chicken"
The team's analysis of the dinosaur's exceptionally preserved skull, a rare discovery for a small dinosaur, revealed a unique jaw structure unlike any previously documented in dinosaurs. Its chewing muscles were arranged similarly to modern parrots.
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An international research team led by a Stony Brook University paleontologist identified a newly discovered dinosaur species from the age of T. rex that lived a remarkably different lifestyle than many of its famous neighbors.
Paleontologists from Stony Brook University, the Royal Ontario Museum and the North Dakota Geological Survey say they identified a small, bird-like dinosaur with specialized chewing muscles for soft foods, making it the first known dinosaur to have specifically eaten fruit.
The species, Infernogallus jamesi, meaning "hell chicken," roamed North America during the final chapter of the dinosaur era. Its fossils were uncovered in the Hell Creek Formation, a fossil-rich region stretching across Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
About the size of a modern turkey, Infernogallus lived alongside some of the most famous dinosaurs, including the fearsome predator T. rex, the horned giant Triceratops, and Ankylosaurus, a tank-like, armor-plated plant-eater. Meanwhile, it belonged to a group of toothless, feathered dinosaurs known as caenagnathids.
The team's analysis of the dinosaur's exceptionally preserved skull, a rare discovery for a small dinosaur, revealed a unique jaw structure unlike any previously documented in dinosaurs. Its chewing muscles were arranged similarly to modern parrots, suggesting it was highly specialized for crushing and processing soft fruits.
"We knew dinosaurs evolved to fill so many different roles in ecosystems in the Cretaceous, but we never expected to discover fruit-eating dinosaurs," said Greg Funston, the Stony Brook University paleontologist who led the study. "For more than 100 years, we didn't know what the skulls of these animals looked like. Now, we know they were even weirder than we could have predicted."
Researchers found that Infernogallus evolved from the same broader theropod family as meat-eating dinosaurs like T. rex, making it a distant relative. But instead of hunting prey, its skull evolved to crush fleshy fruits and separate the edible pulp from large seeds.
The dinosaur lived about 145 to 66 million years ago, when flowering plants spread across the landscape and replaced the cone-bearing plants that had dominated for millions of years. Forests became richer in fruits and seeds, creating new food sources and reshaping ecosystems just before the mass extinction of dinosaurs.
The revelation that Infernogallus was a fruit-eating dinosaur suggests dinosaurs may have played a role in the spread of flowering plants. Researchers say dinosaurs like Infernogallus may have helped disperse seeds after eating fruit, much like birds, reptiles and small mammals do today. If so, dinosaurs could have helped shape prehistoric ecosystems in ways scientists had not previously recognized.
"The strange skull of Infernogallus is an exciting find because it reveals surprising insights into dinosaur evolution and feeding specialization," said Dr. David Evans, a senior author of the study. "This discovery shows that we still have a lot to learn about the world of T. rex, and about dinosaurs more generally.”
Life construction courtesy: Danielle Dufaut, 2025. Fossil skeleton, reconstruction and turkey for scale credit: Greg Funston, et al, 2026.
