Macalester Geology professors Ray Rogers and Kristi Curry Rogers revealed groundbreaking evidence for dinosaur cannibalism in the April 3 issue of Nature.

The Rogers' article, written with David Krauss of State University of New York-Stony Brook, outlined fossil evidence from Madagascar showing tooth-marks on ribs of the carnivorous Majungatholus atopus which were found to match tooth samples from the same species.

The findings have caused a stir in the international press. "I think this was particularly 'out there' because it combined dinosaurs and behavior…who can resist a dinosaur cannibal?" Ray Rogers, the Geology Department chair, said. "It certainly put the college and the department in the spotlight for a few days—on a global scale."

The story made papers around the world, and it was featured on BBC, CNN, NPR and National Geographic among other news sources. "Google News featured it for four days as a top story," Ray said.

"Both Ray and I have gotten lots of emails from alumni," added his wife Kristi, who is Curator of Paleontology at the Science Museum of Minnesota. "[It's made] people say 'Wow! They do dinosaur research at Macalester?'"

Both professors hope that the popular appeal of the findings will attract students to the department. "Maybe it will bring more students into our intro level classes, especially 'Dinosaurs,' for a closer look at some of these cool finds," said Kristi.

The findings are inconclusive as to whether Majungatholus was an opportunistic scavenger, or actively killed its own kind. It is known that it also fed on large, long-necked dinosaurs called titanosaurs.

Cannibalism has been frequently observed among many members of the animal kingdom. "Insects, fish, reptiles, birds, mammals— they all do it," said Ray. "Getting evidence like this in the fossil record is not common."

He is confident that this will profoundly affect the perspective paleontologists take towards dinosaur behavior. "We should expect this to at least prompt other paleontologists to look more critically at claims of cannibalism among other dinosaurs."

"I think that our study sets a new bar for the kind of evidence that you really need to have at your disposal in order to say anything definitive about the behavior of an animal dead for 65 million years," said Kristi.

The Rogers, who are also expecting a baby today, plan to collaborate on future field research in Montana, Argentina and Madagascar. Kristi is also planning to research the evolution of birds from dinosaurs.