Long Egg Incubations May Have Doomed the Dinosaurs

An investigation of fossilized teeth reveals that some dinosaurs took more than six months to hatch, hindering their abilities to procreate quickly and efficiently.

| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY, DARLA ZELINITSKY From their warm-blooded innards to their feathered exteriors, increasing evidence shows that birds and many dinosaur species had a lot in common. But a key difference exists early in life, according to a study published January 3 in PNAS—dinosaurs had vastly longer egg incubation periods, more similar to that of modern reptiles than birds.

Gregory Erickson, a paleontologist at Florida State University, and colleagues analyzed the dental records of embryos in fossilized dinosaur eggs. By examining fine growth lines that represent daily deposits of tooth-building tissue called dentin, the researchers determined that dinosaur eggs probably took about twice as long to hatch as similarly-sized bird eggs. Protoceratops andrewsi, a horned dino, incubated their eggs for about three months, the study suggests, while the larger, duckbilled Hypacrosaurus stebingeri incubated theirs for six.

The findings may provide insight into how dinosaurs ultimately went extinct. Incubation times increase with egg size, the authors write, and Hypacrosaurus was hardly the largest dinosaur around. After a devastating event like an asteroid impact, long incubation times would have been hugely disadvantageous, hindering dinosaurs’ abilities to ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • Diana Kwon

    Diana is a freelance science journalist who covers the life sciences, health, and academic life.
Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

sartorius logo
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo

Products

Photo of a researcher overseeing large scale production processes in a laboratory.

Scaling Lentiviral Vector Manufacturing for Optimal Productivity

Thermo Fisher Logo
Collage-style urban graphic of wastewater surveillance and treatment

Putting Pathogens to the Test with Wastewater Surveillance

An illustration of an mRNA molecule in front of a multicolored background.

Generating High-Quality mRNA for In Vivo Delivery with lipid nanoparticles

Thermo Fisher Logo
Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide