Dinosaurs Were Stay-At-Home Dads, New Research Reveals

Los Angeles Times:

Dinosaur dads played an active role in raising their young and often served as single parents, according to a study published Friday in the journal Science.

The researchers examined bones belonging to eight different dinosaurs that were fossilized in "brooding postures" near clutches of eggs. None of them included medullary bone, a form of bone tissue found in female birds and some female dinosaurs that is mined for calcium when they lay eggs, the researchers reported.

The team, led by paleontologist David J. Varricchio of Montana State University in Bozeman, also looked for signs that calcium or phosphorus had been leached from the bones -- a side effect of the egg-laying process -- and found none.

Read the whole story: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Copeword]

Reminds me of the Land Before Time, since they had a single father in their movies too.

[SirHenryClinton]

Jack Horner's earlier work suggested that at least some baby dinosaurs stayed in their nests after hatching. David Varricchio was one of Jack's students and undoubtedly worked "egg mountain". It is not surprising that his work would focus on dinosaur nesting behavior. Because dinosaurs are birds, many observations regarding bird structure and behavior can serve as a starting point for understanding dinosaurs. Analysis of the fossil record leaves rational people no doubt regarding the validity of evolutionary theory.

December; all the field work has been wrapped up because of the bitter cold. The paleontologists and prepares are inside the laboratory picking away with dental tools. When one considers that the dinosaurs have been gone tens of millions of years, it is astonishing that science can reconstruct those worlds by rigorous examination of every detail. In light of our recent understanding of the earth's natural history, destroying it all through mindless, needless consumption of fossil fuels would be the greatest crime imaginable.

Hats off to all these dedicated researches, especially Marion Brandvold. Who would have thought that a coffee can full of tiny dinosaur bones would prove so fascinating.
http://www.missoulian.com/specials/100montanans/list/022.html

[blueskybigstar]

Just like ostriches and swans are stay at home dad's. Dinosaurs were birds.

[Bitsko]

Anthropomorphism anyone? These were dinosaurs not people.

[BannedInBoston]

And didn't Fred and Barney use them for backhoes too?

[BlackWidowPilot]

Well, this explains my own behavior towards our kids....

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

Head Entelodont-in-Charge

[motoGpifupleez]

Like they had a choice. After all, Adam and Eve had them penned up so they could be ridden to church to hear Jesus preach.

[bubbuh]

Who collected the breakfast eggs?