The largest and most diverse group of Triassic aquatic reptiles gave birth to live young, researchers report in this week's
Paleontologists have been divided on the issue of whether sauropterygians were oviparous or viviparous. Many contended that the reptiles laid their eggs on the shores—as modern marine turtles do—while others argued that they gave birth to live young in the water, study coauthor Xiao-chun Wu, of the Canadian Museum of Nature, told
The evidence came in the form of two small, nearly complete, gravid specimens of the sauropterygians