Doting Duck-Billed Dinosaur Parents Fed Their Young Like Birds
Animals can be loving parents too, even dinosaurs. A new study published in the journal Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology shows just how far hadrosaur parents of the genus Maiasaura went to raise their young.
These duck-billed herbivores were likely very social animals, living and moving in herds. Fossil evidence shows that they also cared for their young. Young Maiasaura discovered among fossilized nests had leg bones that were not fully ossified, meaning they could not walk well and relied on their parents for food. In fact, it’s this relatively unique nurturing behavior that gave dinosaurs their name: “Maiasaura” means “good mother lizard.”
Read more: »How a simulated dinosaur nest revealed prehistoric parenting strategies»
Ohio State University paleontologists studying wear patterns on Maiasaura teeth determined what type of food mom or dad was likely to bring to the nest. Arranged in a compact array, these narrow, honeycomb-shaped teeth showed different wear patterns in juveniles and adults. By comparing these wear patterns to those of the teeth of herbivorous mammals living today, they were able to make educated guesses about their diet.
Juvenile teeth were dotted with pits (like the teeth of fruit-eating tapirs), which corresponded to the grinding of soft foods. Adult teeth, on the other hand, showed striped striations corresponding to mowing activity (like the teeth of herbivorous cows). In other words, Maiasaura parents fed their children nutritious, protein-rich fruits while opting for fiber-rich salads. With such nutrient infusions, baby Maiasaura was able to grow faster.
Although not all dinosaurs care for their young like Maiasaura, this behavior is quite common among dinosaurs’ closest living relatives, birds. “The desire of a bird to feed a young is a very ancient behavior,” explained study author John Hunter in a statement. “What we provide is that the evidence for this behavior probably goes much further than the origin of birds, perhaps all the way to the origin of dinosaurs.”
On the other hand, repaying your mother with an annual brunch is a relatively new innovation.
Main image: Mineo / Adobe
