(NYTIMES) - In a lush, bygone landscape, a hungry Triceratops munches on low-lying ferns and cone-bearing cycad plants to power its 10-tonne frame. The animal swallows huge mouthfuls of roughage, seeds and all, before ambling off in search of new feeding grounds.

Days later and kilometres away, the Triceratops empties its bowels, sowing the seeds of the plants it ate, complete with fertiliser, in more far-flung soil than could be reached without it.