A new discovery explains how two predators, the spinosaur and the tyrannosaurs lived in the same region at the same time. Spinosaurs teeth have a low ratio of oxygen isotopes in their teeth, an indicator that they spend a lot of their time in and around water like crocodiles (who also have a low ratio of oxygen isotopes in their teeth compared to land reptiles). The test was conducted on Spinosaur teeth from 12 different sources and compared to tyrannosaur teeth. They all shared the results. They concluded that spinosaurs and tyrannosaurs avoided competition for food and territory by dividing up the ecosystem.

This is an example of discovery based science, because its focused around comparing obtained with contemporary data. Its not possible to experiment with the predators due to the fact they're extinct.

The conclusions of this article helped humans to further understand the behavior of dinosaurs when they were alive millions of years ago.

Perkins, S. "To escape rivals simply sail away" Science News. March 13, 2010. pp. 18