These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Embryos of an early Jurassic prosauropod dinosaur and their evolutionary significance.
    Author: Reisz RR, Scott D, Sues HD, Evans DC, Raath MA.
    Journal: Science; 2005 Jul 29; 309(5735):761-4. PubMed ID: 16051793.
    Abstract:
    Articulated embryos from the Lower Jurassic Elliot Formation of South Africa are referable to the prosauropod Massospondylus carinatus and, together with other material, provide substantial insights into the ontogenetic development in this early dinosaur. The large forelimbs and head and the horizontally held neck indicate that the hatchlings were obligate quadrupeds. In contrast, adult Massospondylus were at least facultatively bipedal. This suggests that the quadrupedal gait of giant sauropods may have evolved by retardation of postnatal negative allometry of the forelimbs. Embryonic body proportions and an absence of well-developed teeth suggest that hatchlings of this dinosaur may have required parental care.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]