May 8, 2008 -- New findings explain why most dinosaur skeletons exhibit pits, grooves, furrows and even entire gnawed-off sections: Flesh- and bone-eating insects were the culprits.

The evidence comes from dinosaur bones that were buried under soft mud 148 million years ago after a nearby river overflowed. Utah's Western Paleontological Laboratories recovered the bones and turned them over to Brigham Young University scientists, who recently pieced together what happened.

Precise recreations of dinosaur-era events are rare, but the scientists now know the following: A Camptosaurus adolescent dinosaur died in what is now Wyoming, lying down for its final rest. Flying low over a floodplain a few days later, dermestid beetles used their antennae to detect the odor of the decaying carcass, where they laid their larvae that consumed the dinosaur's bones.