Prosauropod Embryos
9:13 pm
Science Magazine reports the discovery of pre-hatchling Massospondylus carinatus, a prosauropod from Early Jurassic South Africa. Prosauropods are an interesting transitional group that lie between the two-legged ancestors of all dinosaurs and the absolutely giant four-legged sauropods. As an adult, Massospondylus seems to have been capable of both bipedal and quadrupedal movement, but the embryos show that the youngsters scampered about on all fours. The authors suggest that later sauropods might have become fully quadrupedal by retaining their youthful proportions into adulthood.
A similar explanation for the short, round snouts of sauropods was proposed when the short, round snout of the infant prosauropod Mussaurus was first described.
News stories about the embryonic Massospondylus abound throughout the web, but Dr. PZ Myers at Pharyngula has the best summary that I’ve come across.
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