"Baby dragon" found in dinosaur egg fossil

This embryo, known as "Baby Yingliang", was discovered in the Late Cretaceous rocks in Ganzhou, southern China, and belongs to a toothless theropod dinosaur, or egg thief

Scientists have discovered that among the known dinosaur embryos, the posture of "Baby Yingliang" is unique-its head is under the body, its feet are on both sides, and its back is curved along the blunt end of the egg

In modern birds, this posture is related to "predation"-a behavior controlled by the central nervous system that is critical to successful hatching

A research team led by scientists from the University of Birmingham and China University of Geosciences (Beijing), and research institutions from China, the United Kingdom, and Canada published their findings on iScience today

The embryo was not disturbed too much in the process of fossilization, and its life position was clearly expressed

Fion Waisum Ma, co-first author and doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham, said: “Dinosaur embryos are some of the rarest fossils.

"Interestingly, seeing dinosaur embryos and chicken embryos posing in similar ways in the eggs may indicate similar pre-hatch behaviors

"Baby Yingliang" is an egg-stealing dragon with a deep skull and no teeth

As we all know, birds will form a series of curled up positions before hatching, that is, bend their bodies and place their heads under their wings

By comparing the "Yingliang Baby" with embryos of other theropods, long-necked sauropods, and birds, the team proposed that the feeding behavior is considered unique to birds.

Professor Lida Xing of China University of Geosciences (Beijing) is the co-first author of this study.

"These specimens were identified as dinosaur egg fossils

Professor Stephen Brusatte from the University of Edinburgh is a member of the research team.

Lida Xing, Kecheng Niu, Waisum Ma, Darla K.