Parental care in an ornithischian dinosaur
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- 8 September 2004
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Nature in Nature
- Vol. 431 (7005) , 145-146
- https://doi.org/10.1038/431145a
Abstract
Crocodilians and birds show extensive parental care of their young1,2, but whether this behaviour evolved independently in these two groups of living archosaurs is unknown — in part because features of parenting among related fossil groups such as dinosaurs3 are unclear. A dramatic specimen of the small ornithischian dinosaur Psittacosaurus sp. (Dalian Natural History Museum D2156) from Liaoning in China reveals a single adult clustered with 34 juveniles within an area of 0.5 square metres, providing strong evidence for post-hatching parental care in Dinosauria.Keywords
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