Fossilized Pregnant Dinosaur May Present First Evidence of Live Birth



This fossilized Polycotylus latippinus, a carnivorous marine reptile that lived 78 million years ago, contains a smaller, less developed skeleton inside of her. Scientists are therefore speculating that this creature did not lay eggs like other dinosaurs, but gave birth to live young. If true, then this dinosaur may have exhibited maternal care behavior similar to modern marine mammals, such as dolphins. This fossil is on public display at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, so if you live in that area, you can get a close look for yourself.

Link -via reddit | Photo: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles Count

Science is so cool. You can take plain boring easy to understand words, like "wishful thinking" or "pie in the sky" or "pulled from our collective behinds" and give them science-y sounding words like "speculating".

And once they start, then it's just one "if true" then "this wild ass thing" on and on and on.

Most people call it science fiction, paleontologists call it their next grant proposal.
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Vonskippy is the most miserable commenter on the web. Seriously, you are the least curious troll I've ever read. Why do you even get up in the morning?
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Why would they think it would have given maternal care.
Some chameleons give live birth and go on their way, leaving the newborn babes to fend for themselves.
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^^ Completely agree with Rumson.

Back on topic, it makes sense that a completely marine reptile (i.e. one that spends its entire life in the ocean) would not lay eggs.
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+1 Vonskippy. What he says is 100% true. Archaeology and Paleontology are weak sciences in that a true test of a theory can never be done without a time machine. All evidence is ultimately speculative.

Physics and Chemistry are strong sciences since theories can be tested and create positive proof... like exploding all over the lab.

As to this whatever-it-is, it could have been eaten (as V said), fallen over on it in death, or something else.

There used to be a concept in science which said that the simplest answer is general the correct one. People are forgetting that.
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