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Paleontologists Uncover Oldest Known Dinosaur Nest Site Two years ago, paleontologist Robert Reisz and colleagues revealed that the Early Jurassic dinosaur Massospondylus started off life as an awkward little thing. An exceptional set of eggs recovered from South Africa in 1976 contained the well-preserved skeletons of these baby dinosaurs, and the infants did not look very much like their parents. A roughly 20-foot-long adult Massospondylus had an extended neck and a long, low skull and it walked on two legs. But a baby of the same dinosaur had a short neck, a big head for its body, and it walked on all fours. The change between baby and adult was fantastic, and now, in a new PNAS paper, Reisz and colleagues provide an even more detailed look at how Massospondylus started life. In 2006, Reisz and collaborators located the site where the Massospondylus eggs had been discovered in South Africa’s Golden Gate Highlands National Park. They found more eggs and baby dinosaurs, but not just that. About 190 million years ago, this place was a nesting ground that multiple Massospondylus used from one season to the next. Read More

Paleontologists Uncover Oldest Known Dinosaur Nest Site

Two years ago, paleontologist Robert Reisz and colleagues revealed that the Early Jurassic dinosaur Massospondylus started off life as an awkward little thing. An exceptional set of eggs recovered from South Africa in 1976 contained the well-preserved skeletons of these baby dinosaurs, and the infants did not look very much like their parents. A roughly 20-foot-long adult Massospondylus had an extended neck and a long, low skull and it walked on two legs. But a baby of the same dinosaur had a short neck, a big head for its body, and it walked on all fours. The change between baby and adult was fantastic, and now, in a new PNAS paper, Reisz and colleagues provide an even more detailed look at how Massospondylus started life.

In 2006, Reisz and collaborators located the site where the Massospondylus eggs had been discovered in South Africa’s Golden Gate Highlands National Park. They found more eggs and baby dinosaurs, but not just that. About 190 million years ago, this place was a nesting ground that multiple Massospondylus used from one season to the next.

Read More

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