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Toothless ‘Hell Chicken’ Dinosaur May Have Had a Taste for Fruit

A 2026 study suggests the 12-kilogram caenagnathid Infernogallus jamesi may have been adapted to mash soft, fleshy fruit. The evidence comes from jaw mechanics, not preserved stomach contents, and the animal is distinct from the larger “chicken from hell,” Anzu wyliei.
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Possibly—but fruit eating is a hypothesis, not a stomach-content discovery. A 2026 Nature Communications study of Infernogallus jamesi, a 12-kilogram (26-pound) caenagnathid from the Hell Creek Formation, reconstructed a lower jaw that moved backward and forward. Ridges and grooves inside its mouth may have helped mash soft food, leading researchers to propose that it was specialized for processing soft, fleshy fruit.

What scientists found in Infernogallus jamesi

A turkey-sized dinosaur from the end of the Cretaceous

Infernogallus jamesi lived about 66 million years ago in the Hell Creek Formation. At an estimated 12 kilograms (26 pounds), it was roughly turkey-sized. It belonged to the caenagnathids, a group of beaked, feathered dinosaurs that included the much larger animal popularly called the “chicken from hell.”

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A jaw built for more than an up-and-down bite

CT reconstruction and analysis of the jaw muscles indicate that Infernogallus could move its lower jaw backward and forward as well as close it. That fore-and-aft motion differs from the simple vertical bite many people imagine when they picture a dinosaur.

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Ridges and grooves on the inside of the mouth may have worked together while the jaws moved, helping crush or mash soft food. The study found no stomach stones. That absence does not identify a meal, but it means the researchers did not have a separate gastrolith clue pointing toward the processing of hard plant material.

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Why fruit is the leading proposal

The authors compared the jaw arrangement with fruit-eating parrots and wrote: “We hypothesize that Infernogallus jamesi could have been specialized for processing soft, fleshy fruit.” The wording is important. The conclusion comes from functional anatomy and comparison with living birds, not from fruit preserved in the dinosaur’s stomach.

Researchers also said that the role of animals such as Infernogallus in the Late Cretaceous proliferation of fruit remains unclear. A jaw capable of handling soft fruit shows what the animal may have been able to process; it does not establish how often fruit appeared in its diet or which plants supplied it.

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Infernogallus versus Anzu: what the evidence says

Feature Infernogallus jamesi Anzu wyliei
Body size Estimated 12 kilograms (26 pounds), approximately turkey-sized About 11 feet long and 5 feet tall at the hip, according to the Smithsonian Institution
Jaw or skull evidence Lower jaw appears capable of backward-and-forward movement; inner-mouth ridges and grooves may have mashed soft food Toothless beak and skull anatomy suggest omnivory; the detailed fruit-processing mechanism proposed for Infernogallus has not been established for Anzu
Diet evidence Soft, fleshy fruit specialization is an anatomical hypothesis supported by comparison with fruit-eating parrots Probably omnivorous or otherwise broad-dieted, but its preferred foods remain unknown
Geological context Hell Creek Formation, about 66 million years ago Upper Maastrichtian Hell Creek Formation of North and South Dakota
Taxonomic status Newly reported caenagnathid described in the 2026 study Earlier-described, larger caenagnathid relative that received the “chicken from hell” nickname

The nickname belongs to a different dinosaur

Anzu wyliei is the animal originally associated with “chicken from hell.” The Smithsonian describes it as approximately 11 feet long and 5 feet high at the hip, with feathers and a toothless beak. Its skull has been interpreted as consistent with omnivory, but scientists have not identified a preferred food. The fruit-feeding proposal for Infernogallus is therefore not a revised diet claim for Anzu.

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Why size matters in the comparison

The two dinosaurs were relatives, but they occupied very different body-size ranges. Treating a 26-pound animal and an 11-foot, 5-foot-at-the-hip animal as interchangeable can blur important differences in feeding mechanics and ecology. Similar beaks do not guarantee identical diets.

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What another small caenagnathid changed about the story

A 2024 discovery, Eoneophron infernalis, showed how easily small caenagnathid fossils can be misclassified. Material first identified as a juvenile Anzu was recognized as a separate species. Oklahoma State researcher Kyle Atkins-Weltman summarized the dietary problem this way: “It’s hard to tell its diet because of the toothless beak.”

This taxonomic correction matters because fossils assigned to a juvenile of a large species can make a species’ growth, size range and ecological role look different from reality. Separating Eoneophron, Infernogallus and Anzu lets researchers test feeding adaptations against the correct animal instead of combining several species under one name.

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How strong is the fruit-eating case?

  • Strongest evidence: the reconstructed jaw motion and the ridged, grooved mouth surfaces provide a plausible mechanical way to process soft food.
  • Useful analogy: fruit-eating parrots show that a beak and jaw can use comparable movements when handling fleshy fruit.
  • Missing direct evidence: no preserved fruit was reported from the stomach, and the study did not identify a specific plant species in the animal’s gut.
  • Unresolved ecology: scientists have not determined how common fruit was in this dinosaur’s habitat or how important Infernogallus was to the spread of fruiting plants late in the Cretaceous.

The most accurate description is therefore “a caenagnathid with anatomy consistent with soft-fruit processing,” rather than “a confirmed fruit eater.” Future fossils with gut contents, coprolites or additional skulls could strengthen—or narrow—that interpretation.

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Bottom line for the “hell chicken” question

The fruit headline concerns Infernogallus jamesi, not Anzu wyliei. Its unusual jaw mechanics may have enabled it to mash soft, fleshy fruit, but the evidence is anatomical and comparative. Anzu remains the larger “chicken from hell,” with a likely broad or omnivorous diet whose favorite foods are still unknown.

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