![]() The specimen is housed in Yingliang Stone Nature History Museum.įion Waisum Ma, joint first author and PhD researcher at the University of Birmingham, said: "Dinosaur embryos are some of the rarest fossils and most of them are incomplete with the bones dislocated. Estimated to be 27 cm long from head to tail, the creature lies inside a 17-cm-long elongatoolithid egg. The embryo is articulated in its life position without much disruption from fossilisation. Led by scientists from the University of Birmingham and China University of Geosciences (Beijing), the research team from institutions in China, UK and Canada today published its findings in iScience. ![]() After studying egg and embryo, researchers believe that such pre-hatching behaviour, previously considered unique to birds, may have originated among non-avian theropods. In modern birds, such postures are related to 'tucking' - a behaviour controlled by the central nervous system and critical for hatching success. Previously unrecognised in dinosaurs, this posture is similar to that of modern bird embryos. 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. Among the most complete dinosaur embryos ever found, the fossil suggests that these dinosaurs developed bird-like postures close to hatching. 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. ![]()
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