Titanosaur eggs , one of the largest dinosaurs in history, have revealed new data on the reproduction of these beings.
Recent work at a site in central India has uncovered 92 nests with a total of 256 fossil eggs of titanosaurs , one of the largest dinosaurs that ever lived.
Detailed examination of these nests has allowed Harsha Dhiman of the University of Delhi and colleagues to make inferences about the living habits of these dinosaurs , in research published in PLOS ONE.
So was the discovery
The authors identified six different species of eggs (oospecies) in the Lameta Formation, located in the Narmada valley, suggesting a greater diversity of titanosaurs than that represented by skeletal remains from this region. Based on the layout of the nests, the team deduced that these dinosaurs buried their eggs in shallow pits, like today’s crocodiles.
Certain pathologies found in the eggs, such as a rare case of “egg in egg”, indicate that titanosaur sauropods had a reproductive physiology parallel to that of birds and possibly laid their eggs sequentially as seen in modern birds.
The presence of many nests in the same area suggests that these dinosaurs exhibited colonial nesting behavior like many modern birds, but the narrow spacing between nests left little room for adult dinosaurs , supporting the idea that adults abandoned their nests. newborn pups to their fate.
The details of the reproductive habits of dinosaurs can be difficult to determine. These fossil nests provide a wealth of information about some of the largest dinosaurs in history, and they come from a time just before the age of dinosaurs came to an end. The findings of this study contribute significantly to paleontologists’ better understanding of how dinosaurs lived and evolved.
Harsha Dhiman, lead author of the research, adds that the research “has revealed the presence of an extensive rookery of titanosaur sauropod dinosaurs in the study area and offers new insights into nest conservation conditions and dinosaur reproductive strategies.” just before its extinction”.
Guntupalli VR Prasad, co-author and leader of the research team, adds that “along with the dinosaur nests at Jabalpur in the upper Narmada valley to the east and Balasinor to the west, the new nesting sites in the district from Dhar, in Madhya Pradesh (central India), which cover an east-west stretch of about a thousand kilometres, constitute one of the largest dinosaur breeding grounds in the world”. (Europe Press)