Eggs with the oldest known embryos of a dinosaur found

An artist’s impression of what the dinosaurs might have looked like

Palaeontologists have identified the oldest known dinosaur embryos, belonging to a species that lived some 190 million years ago.

The eggs of Massospondylus, containing well-perserved embryos, were unearthed in South Africa back in 1976.

The creature appears to be an ancestor of the family that includes the long-necked dino once known as Brontosaurus.

The study in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology also sheds light on the dinosaurs’ early development.

The researchers used the embryos to reconstruct what the dinosaurs’ babies might have looked like when they roamed the Earth.

Having studied the fossilised eggs, the team, led by Professor Robert Reisz of the University of Toronto Mississauga in Canada, discovered that the embryos were the oldest ones ever found of any land-dwelling vertebrate.

“This project opens an exciting window into the early history and evolution of dinosaurs,” said Professor Reisz.

“Prosauropods are the first dinosaurs to diversify extensively, and they quickly became the most widely spread group, so their biology is particularly interesting as they represent in many ways the dawn of the age of dinosaurs.”

‘Awkward’ bodies

Massospondylus belonged to a group of dinosaurs known as prosauropods, the ancestors of sauropods – huge, four-legged dinosaurs with long necks.

Having studied the tiny (20cm-long) skeletons, the researchers noted that the embryos were almost about to hatch – but never had the chance.

While the embryos are only about 20cm long, the adults are thought to have reached some five metres in height

Interestingly, the report says, the embryos looked quite different compared to the adult animals.

Once hatched, the babies would have had rather long front legs, meaning that they would have been walking on all fours rather than on two legs like the adults.

The embryos’ heads were also disproportionally big, but it is believed the adult Massospondylus, which were about five metres in length, had relatively tiny heads and long necks.

The little ones’ anatomy would have changed with age.

The paper stated that the rather awkward body of the embryos suggested that just like humans, the hatchlings would have required parental care – and if in this case, it would be the earliest known example of parental care.

Eggs with the oldest known embryos of a dinosaur found

An artist’s impression of what the dinosaurs might have looked like

Palaeontologists have identified the oldest known dinosaur embryos, belonging to a species that lived some 190 million years ago.

The eggs of Massospondylus, containing well-perserved embryos, were unearthed in South Africa back in 1976.

The creature appears to be an ancestor of the family that includes the long-necked dino once known as Brontosaurus.

The study in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology also sheds light on the dinosaurs’ early development.

The researchers used the embryos to reconstruct what the dinosaurs’ babies might have looked like when they roamed the Earth.

Having studied the fossilised eggs, the team, led by Professor Robert Reisz of the University of Toronto Mississauga in Canada, discovered that the embryos were the oldest ones ever found of any land-dwelling vertebrate.

“This project opens an exciting window into the early history and evolution of dinosaurs,” said Professor Reisz.

“Prosauropods are the first dinosaurs to diversify extensively, and they quickly became the most widely spread group, so their biology is particularly interesting as they represent in many ways the dawn of the age of dinosaurs.”

‘Awkward’ bodies

Massospondylus belonged to a group of dinosaurs known as prosauropods, the ancestors of sauropods – huge, four-legged dinosaurs with long necks.

Having studied the tiny (20cm-long) skeletons, the researchers noted that the embryos were almost about to hatch – but never had the chance.

While the embryos are only about 20cm long, the adults are thought to have reached some five metres in height

Interestingly, the report says, the embryos looked quite different compared to the adult animals.

Once hatched, the babies would have had rather long front legs, meaning that they would have been walking on all fours rather than on two legs like the adults.

The embryos’ heads were also disproportionally big, but it is believed the adult Massospondylus, which were about five metres in length, had relatively tiny heads and long necks.

The little ones’ anatomy would have changed with age.

The paper stated that the rather awkward body of the embryos suggested that just like humans, the hatchlings would have required parental care – and if in this case, it would be the earliest known example of parental care.

Part 1 of a two part Horizon special explores the mystery of whether Atlantis really did exist. Was there really, 12,000 years ago, a fabulous city whose people had already evolved all the trappings of civilisation – sophisticated culture and society, writing, astronomy, religion, monument-building – while everyone else was still living in the Stone Age?

Ever since Plato first alluded to the mysterious city of Atlantis, destroyed in a terrible flood, the notion of an ancient, lost civilisation has been a compelling myth. The idea was revived in the 19th century to explain the tantalising similarities amongst different far-flung ancient cultures that had no connection with each other – why did so many ancient peoples build pyramids? Why did they write in hieroglyphs? Why was their understanding of astronomy and religion apparently so similar? The popular explanation was that Atlantis was the common source for all civilisation, that after their homeland was destroyed in a catastrophic flood, 12,000 years ago, the survivors of this super-race then travelled the world, spreading their knowledge to all. But if this theory is right, the whole of human history will have to be rewritten.

Jacqueline Smith’s film explores whether this popular, yet controversial idea could be true. It examines the mysterious similarities between ancient cultures, and traces the fascinating scientific evidence that shows why the theory of Atlantis has been rejected by mainstream science. ‘You could summarise it by saying it’s a load of codswallop’, says Prof. Colin Renfrew. Cutting edge archaeology, geophysics, chemistry, and carbon dating show that there was no single source for all civilisation – that civilisations evolved independently, in many different places, at different times throughout history. Horizon reveals compelling research that traces the true origins of these far-flung cultures, and explains the apparent coincidences that so intrigue us all.