Researchers Study Prehistoric CO2 Levels After Reconstructing Air From Dinosaur Teeth

Researchers have analysed the oxygen isotope ratios in fossilised dinosaur teeth, specifically the tooth enamel. The tooth has preserved traces of the ancient atmosphere. The researchers studied these isotopes to understand atmospheric CO2 levels during the Mesozoic era, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. 

The CO2 levels were much higher during that time, with concentrations reaching up to 1,200 parts per million in the late Jurassic and 750 parts per million in the late Cretaceous. To understand it better, today's atmospheric CO2 levels are around 430 parts per million.

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The volcanic activity apparently played a significant role in shaping the prehistoric atmosphere. According to the researchers, some dinosaur teeth showed signs of high CO2 levels likely caused by large flood basalt eruption events. 

"Our findings provide a new research avenue to reconstruct a direct link between land-living vertebrates and the atmosphere they breathed," palaeontologist and geochemist Thomas Tutken of the Institute of Geosciences at Johannes Gutenberg Universitat, Mainz in Germany, told Science Alert.

"Even after up to 150 million years, isotopic traces of the oxygen molecules of the Mesozoic atmosphere that the dinosaur inhaled are still preserved in fossil tooth enamel and can tell us something about the ancient atmosphere composition and global photosynthetic biomass production."

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Now, the team plans to apply this method to other geological periods, including the Permian-Triassic extinction event, to understand the Earth's climate history better.

This innovative approach has shed new light on the prehistoric atmosphere and has the potential to revolutionise our understanding of Earth's climate history.

"Overall, triple oxygen isotope analysis of fossil teeth of terrestrial amniotes can provide insights into past atmospheric greenhouse gas content and global primary productivity," the researchers wrote in the study.