14 DAY TRIAL // In a study published earlier this week in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers at Ghent University and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences detail the discovery of three or maybe four fossilized baby dinosaurs at a site in Mongolia.
The area, dubbed “Dragon's Tomb,” has produced many dinosaur fossils over the years. These latest bones were discovered embedded in a piece of rock measuring about 0.3 meters (1 foot) across. This rock looks like it was once part of a nest.
Having examined the fossilized remains, the research team identified them as belonging to a species called Saurolophus angustirostris. The creatures look like they were siblings and died all at once either just before or very soon after delivery.
As detailed in the journal PLOS ONE, eggshell fragments were discovered close to the dinosaurs' skeletons. In fact, it was this find that led the researchers to believe that what they had unearthed was a Saurolophus angustirostris nest.
The dinosaurs died very young indeed
Paleontologists say Saurolophus angustirostris, a giant hadrosaur dinosaur, lived around 70 to 68.5 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous. So far, fossilized remains have only been discovered scattered around North America and Asia.
Adult Saurolophus angustirostris averaged about 12 meters (40 feet) from head to tail, but much bigger specimens are known to pop up every now and again, just to give paleontologists a thrill.
The baby dinosaurs discovered at the “Dragon's Tomb” site in Mongolia had skulls about 5% the size of the largest specimens on record, indicating that they were in fact very young when they died. Just how young, however, remains a mystery.
What paleontologists have until now managed to determine is that, when they passed away and their bodies became fossilized, some of their bones were not properly fused and they had not yet grown their characteristic crest atop their head, Science Daily informs.
The research team plan to further study the fossils to try and better understand the species and the anatomical changes Saurolophus angustirostris went through from infancy to adulthood.
