Image: Nobu Tamura, www.palaeocritti.com
Article except via The Guardian: (click link to see beautiful photograph of fossils)
Oldest dinosaur nests discovered in South Africa
Massospondylus nesting site – with fossilised eggs and tiny footprints – is 100m years older than any previously discovered -
A dinosaur nesting site older than any discovered before suggests that the creatures were caring mothers early in their evolution.
Scientists uncovered clutches of fossilised eggs at the site in the Golden Gate Highlands national park, South Africa, many containing embryos. They also found footprints of hatchlings showing that young dinosaurs stayed in the nest long enough to double in size.
The nests belonged to Massospondylus, a six-metre (20ft) ancestor of long-necked "sauropod" dinosaurs that lived 190m years ago. The newly discovered nesting ground is 100m years older than any found before.
At least 10 nests were uncovered and each contained up to 34 round eggs in tightly clustered clutches. Their distribution indicates that dinosaurs returned repeatedly to the same spot to lay their eggs.
Their highly organised nature suggests the mothers may have arranged their eggs carefully after laying them, according to the research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences..... read more
