Well-preserved dinosaur embryos found in southern China. The embryo of this bird-like baby dinosaur is still hidden behind the egg in a curled up position that is almost hatching. It is this snuggle pose that has attracted the researchers. Because the pose, known as tucking behavior to help hatch eggs, has never been documented in dinosaurs. The discovery of the dinosaur embryo, dubbed the Yingliang Baby, also provides never-before-seen insight into dinosaur development.
"The dinosaur embryo in its egg is one of the most beautiful fossils I've ever seen," said Steve Brusatte, study author and paleontologist from the University of Edinburgh.
According to researchers, the embryo is between 72 and 66 million years old. The embryonic fossil of this curled-up dinosaur baby was also identified as a species of oviraptorosaur, a group of feathered theropod dinosaurs that had toothless beaks. Like all other non-avian dinosaurs, oviraptorosaurs became extinct in the late Cretaceous, around the time of the Cretaceous. 66 million years ago when an asteroid hit Earth.
"We were surprised to see that this embryo was well preserved in the egg and lay in a bird-like posture. This posture has never been seen in non-avian dinosaurs before," said Waisum Ma from the University of Birmingham.
Most other non-avian dinosaur embryo fossils found to date are incomplete and have disjointed skeletons. However, this egg fossil contains one of the most complete non-avian dinosaur embryos ever found. The nearly complete skeleton measures approx. approximately 23.5 cm from head to tail and curled inside the fossilized egg which measures 7 cm long. Meanwhile, the forelegs are located on either side of the skull, tucked into the base of the coiled tail. This position is considered unique in that they bend their bodies and tuck them in. head under the wing to prepare for hatching. Based on this analysis, the research team suggests that head tucking behavior may have first evolved in theropod dinosaurs tens or even hundreds of millions of years ago.
"This remarkable new fossil embryo suggests that some of these pre-hatching behaviors may have roots much longer in the therapoda lineage," the researchers said.
That's why the posture and behavior of dinosaurs before hatching can provide some insight into dinosaur development and evolution. A study on the clues to dinosaur evolution from fossilized baby dinosaur embryos has been published in the journal iScience.
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