No, this is not the plot from a new Jurassic Park movie, this is real life! A specimen believed to be somewhere from 66 to 72 million years old was recently discovered. It is thought to be the most complete dinosaur embryo ever found! Read more below to find out more about this fascinating discovery.
The Dinosaur Embryo Discovery
This fully articulated embryo was discovered inside a fossilized egg. Amazingly, the egg had sat in the storage room of a Chinese museum for more than ten years! It wasn’t until construction for the museum started and old fossils were being cataloged that experts focused on the egg. This extremely rare find is unique as it represents the link between these ancient creatures and modern birds. The specimen is an Oviraptorosaurs, a type of theropod with feathers and no teeth. It is thought to be approximately 27 centimeters in length. What makes it so fascinating is that it is the first discovery of a dinosaur embryo with a posture similar to modern avian embryos.
Evolutionary Origins of Tucking
Modern birds perform a series of tucking movements just before hatching. This entails bending the body and lowering the head beneath the wing. However, the evolutionary origins of this pattern of behavior have not been known until now. In a 2021 paper, the authors noted that the specimen they found was discovered with the head “ventral to the body, with the feet on either side, and the back curled along the blunt pole of the egg”. This posture has never been seen in a non-avian dinosaur before, yet it is similar to a modern late-stage bird embryo.
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A Vital Role
This type of behavior is believed to play an important role in birds’ hatching process. In fact, the birds that don’t use this position tend to have a lower likelihood of getting out of their egg. The fact that their specimen seems to have acquired the same posture shows that the phenomena originated among ancient theropod ancestors of modern-day birds. Professor Brusatte, the author of the study remarked “This little prenatal dinosaur looks just like a baby bird curled in its egg, which is yet more evidence that many features characteristic of today’s birds first evolved in their dinosaur ancestors”.
A Rare and Exciting Look at Therapods
The specimen, currently on display at the Yingliang Stone Nature History Museum, is one of the most perfectly preserved dinosaur embryos ever discovered. This gives researchers an unprecedented peek at a complete baby theropod. Yet, since it is the sole specimen of its type, the author of the study agrees that the discovery cannot be used to draw definite conclusions about the evolution of dinosaur embryos. This means that more fossils such as this one must be examined before any real hypotheses can be established. However, they added that “this new exceptional dinosaur embryo hints that some early developmental behaviors often considered as uniquely avian may be rooted more deeply in the theropod lineage.”
More Work to Be Done
Part of the dinoasaur’s body remains embedded in rock. Therefore, researchers are going to use sophisticated scanning techniques to build an image of its whole skeleton. Who knows what else their research will still uncover, providing us with further insight into the lives of these fascinating creatures. The more we unearth about the past, the more we understand how modern species came to be. As we uncover more about the Oviraptorosaurs, the more we get a glimpse into the evolution of modern birds.
The Bottom Line on the Dinosaur Embryo
This discovery of a fully preserved dinosaur embryo is an extremely exciting for paleontology. This is because it provides an important link between the ancient world of dinosaurs and the contemporary avian species we observe today. Researchers are solving the evolutionary conundrum that links prehistoric species to current birds by discovering the embryonic behaviors in theropods. While there is still more to learn, this astounding discovery contributes to a better understanding of dinosaur development and behavior. Each new finding like this pushes us closer to unraveling the riddles of our planet’s history. This brings us closer to an unparalleled insight into life as it existed millions of years before.
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