Dinosaurs were caring mothers, new discovery finds
Baku, January 25 (AZERTAC). The oldest dinosaur nest to be found by scientists showed the creatures were caring mothers in their early evolution.
he finding in South Africa showed several clutches of fossilised eggs, many containing embryos.
Tiny footprints of the newborn dinosaurs also showed they stayed in the nest long enough to grow to double their size.
The nests, found in Golden Gate Highlands National Park, is 100 million years older than previously found nests and belonged to Massospondylus, a 20-foot ancestor of long-necked "sauropod" dinosaurs that lived 190 million years ago.
At least 10 nests were found at different rock levels, with up to 34 eggs in each, suggesting the dinosaurs returned to the same spot to lay their eggs.
The research appeared in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
"Even though the fossil record of dinosaurs is extensive, we actually have very little fossil information about their reproductive biology, particularly for early dinosaurs," said leading scientist Dr David Evans, curator of vertebrate palaeontology at the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada.
"This amazing series of 190 million year old nests gives us the first detailed look at dinosaur reproduction early in their evolutionary history, and documents the antiquity of nesting strategies that are only known much later in the dinosaur record."
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