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Patagonian fossils show Jurassic dinosaur had the herd mentality - CNN

Patagonian fossils show Jurassic dinosaur had the herd mentality - CNN

Patagonian fossils show Jurassic dinosaur had the herd mentality - CNN
Oct 22, 2021 44 secs

Scientists said on Thursday the fossils include more than 100 dinosaur eggs and the bones of about 80 juveniles and adults of a Jurassic Period plant-eating species called Mussaurus patagonicus, including 20 remarkably complete skeletons.

"It preserves a dinosaur nesting ground including delicate and tiny dinosaur skeletons as well as eggs with embryos inside.

It could be that they stayed in the same herd after reaching adulthood, but we don't have information to corroborate that hypothesis," said paleontologist and study co-author Vincent Fernandez of the Natural History Museum in London.

Herd behavior also can protect young and vulnerable individuals from attack by predators.

"It's a strategy for the survival of a species," Fernandez said.

The oldest previous evidence for dinosaur herd behavior was from about 150 million years ago.

The nesting ground was situated on the dry margins of a lake featuring ferns and conifers in a warm but seasonal climate.

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