Date:January 2, 2017
Source: Florida State University
A human typically gives birth after nine months. An ostrich hatchling emerges from its egg after 42 days. But how long did it take for a baby dinosaur to incubate?
Groundbreaking research led by a Florida State University professor establishes a timeline of anywhere from three to six months depending on the dinosaur.
In an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, FSU Professor of Biological Science Gregory Erickson and a team of researchers break down the complicated biology of these prehistoric creatures and explain how embryonic dental records solved the mystery of how long dinosaurs incubated their eggs.
"Some of the greatest riddles about dinosaurs pertain to their embryology -- virtually nothing is known," Erickson said. "Did their eggs incubate slowly like their reptilian cousins -- crocodilians and lizards? Or rapidly like living dinosaurs -- the birds?"
Scientists had long theorized that dinosaur incubation duration was similar to birds, whose eggs hatch in periods ranging from 11-85 days. Comparable-sized reptilian eggs typically take twice as long -- weeks to many months.
Because the eggs of dinosaurs were so large -- some were about 4 kilograms or the size of a volleyball -- scientists believed they must have experienced rapid incubation with birds inheriting that characteristic from their dinosaur ancestors.
Erickson, FSU graduate student David Kay and colleagues from University of Calgary and the American Museum of Natural History decided to put these theories to the test.
To do that, they accessed some rare fossils -- those of dinosaur embryos.
Groundbreaking research led by a Florida State University professor establishes a timeline of anywhere from three to six months depending on the dinosaur.
In an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, FSU Professor of Biological Science Gregory Erickson and a team of researchers break down the complicated biology of these prehistoric creatures and explain how embryonic dental records solved the mystery of how long dinosaurs incubated their eggs.
"Some of the greatest riddles about dinosaurs pertain to their embryology -- virtually nothing is known," Erickson said. "Did their eggs incubate slowly like their reptilian cousins -- crocodilians and lizards? Or rapidly like living dinosaurs -- the birds?"
Scientists had long theorized that dinosaur incubation duration was similar to birds, whose eggs hatch in periods ranging from 11-85 days. Comparable-sized reptilian eggs typically take twice as long -- weeks to many months.
Because the eggs of dinosaurs were so large -- some were about 4 kilograms or the size of a volleyball -- scientists believed they must have experienced rapid incubation with birds inheriting that characteristic from their dinosaur ancestors.
Erickson, FSU graduate student David Kay and colleagues from University of Calgary and the American Museum of Natural History decided to put these theories to the test.
To do that, they accessed some rare fossils -- those of dinosaur embryos.
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