Nest Full of Baby Dinosaurs Discovered

Discovery News via Fox ^ | November 16, 2011 | Jennifer Viegas

[SunkenCiv]

A 70-million-year-old nest of the dinosaur Protoceratops andrewsi has been found with evidence that 15 juveniles were once inside it, according to a paper in the latest Journal of Paleontology.

While large numbers of eggs have been associated with other dinosaurs, such as the meat-eating Oviraptor or certain duck-billed hadrosaurs, finding multiple juveniles in the same dino nest is quite rare...

All were found at Djadochta Formation, Tugrikinshire, Mongolia, where it's believed sand "rapidly overwhelmed and entombed" the youngsters while they were still alive.

The researchers conclude that the 15 dinosaurs all show juvenile characteristics. These include short snouts, proportionately large eyes, and an absence of adult characteristics, such as the prominent horns and large frills associated with adults of this species. At least 10 of the 15 fossil sets are complete.

The nest and its contents imply that Protoceratops juveniles remained and grew in their nest during at least the early stages of postnatal development. The nest further implies that parental care was provided...

Yet another discovery previously found at the same locality is the famous "fighting dinosaurs" specimen in which a Protoceratops and Velociraptor appear to have been preserved together "locked in what was evidently mortal combat," Fastovsky added. Parents and other adults of the sheep-sized herbivorous species may then have spent much of their time fighting off such hungry predators.

[ApplegateRanch]

Ever seen a “turtle boil”, when the hatchlings dig out of the buried nest? There are often a few that don't make it out.

Sometimes, the nest hatches; but, for what ever reason, is too deep for any to make it to the surface.

In either case, under the right conditions, they could be preserved in a similar tableau.

Are we certain that these guys were surface nesters, and not egg buriers? A buried nest would make it harder for the egg eaters to raid it.

[SunkenCiv]

:’)

[Tax-chick]

I just read something similar in a book about Pterosaurs I was reading to my son last night - no adults were found at the site, presumably because they could fly away as the flash-flood hit, but the non-flying young were “rapidly overwhelmed and entombed.”

[Pecos]

I saw the headline, and expected the enviro-wackos to have declared them an endagered species.

[wildbill]

Gee, maybe they starved after their doting mama, one of the so-called “fighting dinosaurs”, died nearby while protecting the nest.

I get so choked up—(sob)—over the deaths of little ‘bambis’ of a species inimical to the evolution of Man into the dominant form of animal life on our planet.