Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 4
Dinosaur Nests and Bringing Up Babies
Parenthood, Dinosaur-style
Dinosaurs were good parents. Although such a statement is imbued with anthropo-
morphismandhintsatunrealisticexpectationsof“familyvalues,”wenowknowthat
at least a few species of dinosaurs protected and nurtured their young. Even better,
weknowthatthosesamespeciesofdinosaurshadevolvedtheinstincttochangetheir
surroundings in a way that protected their potential offspring before a single egg left
a dinosaur mother's body. Both trace and body fossils for such sophisticated behavi-
orsshowthatforesightandplanningforthenextgenerationwasnaturallyselectedin
these dinosaurs.
Yet dinosaurs did not always have the winning reputation of the Cleaver family.
Instead, their parenting skills were thoughtofasmorealongthelines of
The Addams
Family
or
The Simpsons
.Previouslyviewedas“lay'emandleave'em”parents,they
were assumed to have been like lizards, snakes, or turtles, depositing their eggs in a
nest,thenwavinggood-byetothem,nevertofindoutwhethertheyhatchedornot,or
watch them grow up. We imagined dinosaur mothers thinking “You're on your own,
developing embryos!” as they walked away from a clutch of eggs, possibly laid out
in the open for ravenous insects, mammals, and other dinosaurs to enjoy as meals.
Continuing such a dire state of affairs, dinosaur fathers were regarded as ne'er-do-
wells, long gone after performing their (very) brief service to dinosaur reproduction.
Fortunately for dinosaurs, though, these unseemly character flaws have under-
gone a massive makeover during the past thirty years or so. The pivotal shift for this
still-new perspective ondinosaurscameaboutfromacombination ofevidence: from
dinosaur eggs and embryos that have been connected to adult dinosaurs (their par-
ents); to dinosaur babies; and, yes, trace fossils made by juveniles and parents.
