Free Republic

An ancient dinosaur nursery - the oldest nesting site ever found - has been unearthed in an excavation at a site in South Africa. The 190-million-year-old nesting site of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus reveals significant clues about the evolution of complex reproductive behaviour in early dinosaurs. It discover 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. “This research project, which has been ongoing since 2005 continues to produce groundbreaking results and excavations continue. First it...

Palaeontologists have identified the oldest known dinosaur embryos, belonging to a species that lived some 190 million years ago. The eggs of Massospondylus, containing well-perserved embryos, were unearthed in South Africa back in 1976. The creature appears to be an ancestor of the family that includes the long-necked dino once known as Brontosaurus. The study in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology also sheds light on the dinosaurs' early development.