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Scientists have found a 70 million year old fossilized dinosaur sitting on a nest of its eggs containing fossilized embryos.
“Dinosaurs preserved on their nests are rare, as are fossil embryos,” says co-researcher Shundong Bi, professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and research associate at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH). “This is the first time that a non-avian dinosaur has been found, sitting on a nest of eggs that preserve embryos, in a single spectacular specimen.” The dinosaur and its offspring were found in China’s Jiangxi Province.
From the Carnegie Natural History Museum:
The fossil in question is that of an oviraptorosaur, a group of theropod bird-like dinosaurs that flourished during the Cretaceous Period, the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (commonly referred to as the ‘Age of Dinosaurs’ ‘) which stretched from 145 to 66 million years ago. The famous “Chicken from Hell” of the CMNH Anzu Look, is another type of oviraptorosaur. However, while Anzu is part of the largely North American oviraptorosaur subgroup of the Caenagnathidae, the new fossil is a member of another major subgroup, the Oviraptoridae, which has so far only been found in Asia. The new specimen was recovered from the tallest Cretaceous rocks, around 70 million years old, in the city of Ganzhou, in southern China’s Jiangxi province.
The fossil consists of an incomplete skeleton of a large, presumably adult oviraptorid crouching in a brooding posture similar to that of a bird on a clutch of at least 24 eggs. At least seven of these eggs keep partial bones or skeletons of unhatched oviraptorid embryos inside. The late stage of embryo development and the proximity of the adult to the eggs strongly suggest that the latter died while incubating its nest, like its modern bird cousins, rather than laying its eggs or simply guarding its nest. crocodile- style, as has sometimes been proposed for the few other oviraptorid skeletons found atop nests.
“This type of discovery – essentially fossilized behavior – is the rarest of the few in dinosaurs,” explains [CMNH co-interim director and lead dinosaur paleontologist Matt] Lamanna. “Although a few adult oviraptorids have already been found on egg nests, no embryos have ever been found inside these eggs. In the new specimen, the babies were almost ready to hatch, which tells us no doubt this oviraptorid tended its nest for quite a long time. This dinosaur was a caring parent who ultimately gave his life while nurturing his young. “
image: Shundong Bi, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
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