Tuesday 28 February 2012

How cool is this !

190 million year old dinosaur nests discovered in South Africa
Massospondylus nesting site – with fossilised eggs and tiny footprints – is 100million years older than any previously discovered



The embryonic skeleton of a Massospondylus dinosaur found in South Africa. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
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.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/jan/24/oldest-dinosaur-nests-south-africa

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