In 1923 the Flaming Cliffs of the Gobi Desert yielded one of the most-celebrated finds of paleontology. Entombed in sun-baked sandstone was a collection of oval-shaped oddities: the first dinosaur eggs known to science. This 75-million-year-old find would be followed by others, providing a glimpse into the lives of these ancient creatures that no skeleton could.
Since that discovery, fossilized dinosaur eggs and nests have been recovered from sites around the world, as have the bones of tiny hatchlings and even tinier embryos. These discoveries are allowing scientists to unlock the mysteries of dinosaur reproductive and social behavior, such as: Were dinosaurs social animals? Did they care for their young? What was life like for baby dinosaurs? (more…)
An excavation at a site in South Africa has unearthed the 190-million-year-old dinosaur nesting site of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus-revealing significant clues about the evolution of complex reproductive behaviour in early dinosaurs. The newly unearthed dinosaur nesting ground predates previously known nesting sites by 100 million years, according to study authors.
A new study led by University of Toronto Mississauga paleontologist Robert Reisz, with co-author, Professor David Evans of ecology and evolutionary biology and the Royal Ontario Museum, along with a group of international researchers, describes clutches of eggs, many with embryos, as well as tiny dinosaur footprints, providing the oldest known evidence that the hatchlings remained at the nesting site long enough to at least double in size. (more…)
*Some Dinosaurs Were as Warm as Most Modern Mammals*
PASADENA, Calif.—Were dinosaurs slow and lumbering, or quick and agile? It depends largely on whether they were cold or warm blooded. When dinosaurs were first discovered in the mid-19th century, paleontologists thought the y were plodding beasts that had to rely on their environments to keep warm, like modern-day reptiles. But research during the last few decades suggests that they were faster creatures, nimble like the velociraptors or T. rex depicted in the movie Jurassic Park, requiring warmer, regulated body temperatures like in mammals.
Now, a team of researchers led by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has developed a new approach to take body temperatures of dinosaurs for the first time, providing new insights into whether dinosaurs were cold or warm blooded. By analyzing isotopic concentrations in teeth of sauropods, the long-tailed, long-necked dinosaurs that were the biggest land animals to have ever lived—think Apatosaurus (also known as Brontosaurus)—the team found that the dinosaurs were about as warm as most modern mammals. (more…)
