New research on dinosaur reproduction


This video is called Stegosaurus vs Allosaurus.

From the BBC:

Dinosaurs ‘grew fast, bred young’

By Helen Briggs
Science reporter, BBC News

Dinosaurs bred as early as age eight, long before they reached adult size, fossil evidence suggests.

Although they were descended from reptiles, and evolved into birds, dinosaurs grew fast and bred young, much like the mammals of today.

Researchers at the University of California found hallmark “egg-making” tissue in two juvenile females.

They say early sexual maturity was needed for survival, so females could lay eggs before becoming prey.

Calcium-rich medullary bone, which, in birds, is used to produce egg shells, was found inside the fossilised shin-bones of two specimens: the meat-eating Allosaurus and the plant-eater Tenontosaurus.

Sarah Werning and Andrew Lee of the University of California (UC), Berkeley, deduced from growth rings inside the bone that the two females were aged eight and 10, very young for dinosaurs, which lived to about 30.

Medullary bone has previously been found in a female Tyrannosaurus rex, and the scientists confirmed this finding, putting her age at 18.

“We were lucky to find these female fossils,” said Sarah Werning. “Medullary bone is only around for three to four weeks in females who are reproductively mature, so you’d have to cut up a lot of dinosaur bones to have a good chance of finding this.”

See also here.

Scientists from the University of Bonn are researching which plants giant dinosaurs could have lived off more than 100 million years ago: here.

2 thoughts on “New research on dinosaur reproduction

  1. Pingback: Are birds baby dinosaurs? | Dear Kitty. Some blog

  2. Pingback: World’s oldest dinosaur embryos discovery | Dear Kitty. Some blog

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