Baby dinosaur fossils found in ‘Dragon’s Tomb’

An worldwide team of paleontologists from Belgium, France and Mongolia, has unearthed an exceptional block of perinatal specimens (babies) of the giant hadrosaurid dinosaur Saurolophus angustirostris, with associated eggshell fragments, in an area called the Dragon’s Tomb. The three or four dinosaurs, along with a couple of egg fragments, are believed to have belonged to the same nest.

A group of perinatal specimens/ baby dinosaur fossils were found at “Dragon’s Tomb” in Mongolia.

According to Live Science, there were three babies discovered of the Saurolophus angustirostris genus which the research team who discovered it will now use to piece together its family tree and have now published their findings in the journal, PLOS ONE. In fact, the new found hadrosaurs were probably at the very earliest stages of life – either they had just hatched, or were just about to. It’s been a dinosaur fossil hotbed since its discovery in 1947.

While the details of their upbringing remain scant given the obvious passing of time, the researchers say that the nest was most likely situated on a river bank that would have been washed away and covered with sand almost 65m years ago.

The eggshell fragments associated with the individuals are closely resembled to those found earlier in Mongolia.

The newfound duck-billed or hadrosaurs possess tiny physical features such as the skull length was around 5% that of any largest known Saurolophus angustirostris.

But the bones already resembled S. angustirostris characteristics, including the upwardly directed snout also known as premaxillary bones.

The specimens did not have the characteristic cranial crest at the top of the head and the areas of the skull – the cervical neural arches had not taken shape yet.

It could plug a gap in knowledge of the development of the species.

Scientists aren’t sure whether the babies were still in the eggs or died shortly after hatching, but they believe they were already dead and partly decomposed when they were buried by river sediment.

He added: ‘The poorly developed crest in Saurolophus babies provides evidence of ontogenetic crest growth within the Saurolophini tribe.