Baby Dinosaurs Found In China
posted in Archaeology, Latest News |
The fossilized remnants of six baby dinosaurs that died in a volcanic mudflow have been found in China. According to researchers the dinosaurs were less than four years old, and most likely formed a “crèche” composed of babies from at least two different clutches.
The Psittacosaurus finding indicates that the animals had started forming social groups much earlier than previously thought. The 120-million-year-old fossils are reported in the journal Palaeontology. Research on the group was led by Dr Paul Barrett, from London’s Natural History Museum.
He said “the specimens are spectacularly well preserved and together offer a unique insight into the behavior of the Psittacosaurus, which sported a parrot-like beak”.
Dr Barrett explained “It was discovered that these animals in fact lived in small groups. Another interesting fact is that not only did these animals live in groups but these groups were made up of individuals from different sets of clutches”.
It is this proof of grouping in Psittacosaurus that persuades Dr Barrett that the dinosaur was an innately social creature. The horns that came later in its flashier descendent, the iconic Triceratops, perhaps evolved for mating rituals rather than as a protection to push away predators such as T. Rex.
The Psittacosaurus herd was dig up from the Yixian Formation in the northeast of the People’s Republic of China. These are the same bases that have produced the famous “feathered dinosaurs”.