Preserved embryo found inside fossilized dinosaur egg - 'Baby Yingliang' animated reconstruction

[Donkees]

Dec 22, 2021

Animated life reconstruction of a close-to-hatching oviraptorosaur dinosaur embryo, based on the new specimen “Baby Yingliang.”

Video Credit: Lida Xing

Excerpt:

A 72 to 66-million-year-old embryo found inside a fossilised dinosaur egg sheds new light on the link between the behaviour of modern birds and dinosaurs, according to a new study.

The embryo, dubbed ‘Baby Yingliang’, was discovered in the Late Cretaceous rocks of Ganzhou, southern China and belongs to a toothless theropod dinosaur, or oviraptorosaur. Among the most complete dinosaur embryos ever found, the fossil suggests that these dinosaurs developed bird-like postures close to hatching.

Scientists found the posture of ‘Baby Yingliang’ unique among known dinosaur embryos — its head lies below the body, with the feet on either side and the back curled along the blunt end of the egg. Previously unrecognised in dinosaurs, this posture is similar to that of modern bird embryos.

In modern birds, such postures are related to ‘tucking’ — a behaviour controlled by the central nervous system and critical for hatching success. After studying egg and embryo, researchers believe that such pre-hatching behaviour, previously considered unique to birds, may have originated among non-avian theropods.

https://www.geologypage.com/2021/12/exquisitely-preserved-embryo-found-inside-fossilized-dinosaur-egg.html

[empedocles]

1. TY. Easier to appreciate the originally DU posted photo.

[Donkees]

2. 🦖