New Study Suggests Dinosaurs Sat On Eggs Like Birds

New scientific research has scientist believing that dinosaurs sat on their eggs to keep them cool, ending a fierce debate among paleontologists. While some dinosaur experts have believed that dinosaurs buried their eggs like crocodiles, now research by University of Calgary dinosaur researcher Darla Zelenitsky and Montana State University paleontologist David Varricchio  suggests that dinosaurs laid their eggs and then sat on them, according to NBC News.

The key difference between the two methods come down to the types of egg shells used by both types of creatures. Crocodile eggs have many pores, allowing their mother's to bury the eggs without fear of suffocation. Bird eggs however, have fewer pores, so they have less danger of becoming dried out.

By studying the amount of pores in dinosaur eggs, scientists have determined that at least once type of dinosaur, Troodon, partially buried there eggs in mud, so that they would remain upright and still, then sat on the eggs to keep them warm.  Troodon comes from a variety of dinosaur that eventually evolved into birds, thus suggesting a link between the two. David Varricchio also came up with a specific bird species that followed this method from dinosaurs.

"There are similarities with a peculiar nester among birds called the Egyptian plover that broods its eggs while they're partially buried in sandy substrate of the nest..."

Troodon was a flesh eating dinosaur that grew to be about eight feet long and lived during the late Cretaceous period, about 75 million years ago. Recent studies have shown that dinosaurs, originally thought to have been uncaring parents, have shown that certain dinosaurs had strong parental instincts. Finding out that Troodon at least took care of their eggs leads further credit to this theory.  Anybody wishing to learn more about the subject can read more in the spring issue of Paleobiology.