What do we know about dinosaur eggs?

These fossils can reveal a lot about how dinosaurs lived

Some dinosaur eggs took a surprisingly long time to hatch, according to a study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. By examining the teeth of unhatched dinosaur embryos, paleontologists determined that one species spent about three months incubating, while another spent six.

Fossils of dinosaur eggs might be common, but embryos are very rare. “Virtually nothing is known about their embryology,” coauthor Gregory M. Erickson of Florida State University, told the New York Times.

But dinosaur eggs can shed light on the creatures’ evolution, behavior, and how they went extinct. Here are six things we have learned from dinosaur eggs—and from the occasional lucky embryo.

dino egg
dinosaur nest
oviraptor egg
Blue dino eggs
cluster of dinosaur eggs
pregnant dino
 

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Kate Baggaley

Contributor, Science

Kate Baggaley has been contributing regularly to Popular Science since 2017. She frequently covers nature, climate, and the COVID-19 pandemic, but has also reported on many other aspects of science, including space, paleontology, and health. She has a soft spot for birds, deep sea critters, and all kinds of gorgeous creepy crawlies.