Dinosaurs Dinosaur groups Ornithischian Dinosaurs Ornithischian ...
Dinosaurs Dinosaur groups Ornithischian Dinosaurs Ornithischian ...
Dinosaurs Dinosaur groups Ornithischian Dinosaurs Ornithischian ...
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Hadrosaur nesting behavior<br />
• In Western US and Canada, Hadrosaur nesting sites have been found<br />
• Fossil nests of sediment, plant material, mounded up on river floodplains<br />
• 2 m wide, about 0.75 m deep circular mounds<br />
• Some contained fossilized eggs<br />
• Some fossilized eggs contain embryonic hadrosaur chicks<br />
• Fossil chicks range from pre-hatched to young hatchlings<br />
Maiasaura<br />
• Described from Montana fossils, nesting sites<br />
• Name means “good mother lizard”<br />
• Nests contained up to 11 hatchlings, eggs<br />
• Nests were positioned about one adult body-length apart… similar<br />
spacing as that used today by colony-nesting birds<br />
• Vegetation in nest suggests compost incubation… technique is used<br />
today by some birds, crocodiles<br />
• Hatchlings were from 30 cm to 1 m in length… indicates young did not<br />
leave the nest immediately… parental care<br />
• Youngest hatchlings had incomplete leg-bone development.. chicks<br />
could not walk, had to be tended, fed by adults<br />
Maiasaura chicks<br />
Body length ~ 1 m
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